TITLE:
Retrospective Evaluation of the Prevalence of Diastema among an Adult Population
AUTHORS:
Kyle Cousineau, Tanya Al Talib, Neamat Abubakr Hassan
KEYWORDS:
Maxillary Midline Diastema, Prevalence, Diastema
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Stomatology,
Vol.12 No.6,
June
15,
2022
ABSTRACT: Purpose: With the increased demand for orthodontic treatments in adults, Diastemas have always been an obstacle for either pre or post orthodontic treatment. The purpose of the present investigation is to identify the prevalence and location of diastema among patients attending the dental clinics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Methods: A retrospective keywords search of the clinical notes of UNLV School of Dental Medicine (SDM) patient charts in AxiUmTM (dental practice management software) was performed using the search terms “diastema” and “midline diastema” to identify the number of cases that clinically presented with diastema from 1/1/2014-9/30/2020. Demographic data were then analyzed using a Chi-square test and compared against Clark County population data. Results: 1182 patients’ records were identified to have one of the search keywords. 56.7% of the patients who presented with diastema were female, 43.1% were male and 0.2% were unknown. 31.5% of patients presenting with diastema were between the ages of 12 and 19. The majority of the diastema cases were in maxillary teeth, followed by diastema in both maxillary and mandibular. The least number of cases had only mandibular diastema. In regards to size, most (look up percent) were mild diastema (1 - 2 mm), followed by moderate (2 mm) and severe (above 2 mm). The reported ethnicity with highest diastema was Hispanic followed by Caucasians and 17% were African Americans. Chi square analysis showed ethnicity results are statistically significant (p Conclusion: Ethnicity and arch are integral predictors for patients who have diastema.