TITLE:
Biometric Assessment of Maxillary Anterior Tooth Dimensions in a Hong Kong SAR Population
AUTHORS:
Ho Yin Chan, Brian J. Millar
KEYWORDS:
Tooth Dimensions, Golden Proportion, Anterior, Ratio, Hong Kong
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Stomatology,
Vol.12 No.10,
October
14,
2022
ABSTRACT: Objectives: To study the biometric dimensions of upper front teeth in a Hong Kong SAR population including gender differences and compare this with the often recommended use of the Golden Proportion when selecting tooth proportions. Methods: A sample of dental casts was obtained from 100 patients: 50 females and 50 males with an age range from 18 to 35 years. The sample was selected based on the criteria of intact maxillary anterior dental arches, free from imbrications and crowding, no restorations or replaced teeth in the upper front teeth. The width and length of the 600 upper anterior teeth included in the casts were measured, together with the combined upper anterior tooth width for each cast. Analysis of width/height ratio, sexual dimorphism, and golden proportions was statistically analyzed. The data was analysed by SPSS using one-sample t-test, two-sample t-test, and paired t-test. Results: Most measurements had a normal distribution. Paired sample t-test revealed that the average length of male maxillary incisors is significantly higher than female maxillary incisors, while there is no obvious difference in maxillary incisor width. The mean width/length ratio of maxillary incisors ranges from 0.78 to 0.87. The mean values of maxillary apparent tooth width prove that the golden proportion (GP) ratio 1.618 was absent in the current sample. The current study data shows that the mean values of tooth width and length differed from some other populations. Conclusions: Based on the findings of this research, there is no statistically significant difference in the maxillary anterior tooth dimensions for the right and left sides of the arch. Length and width dimensions of the central incisor (CI) were greater than those of lateral incisor (LI) and Canine (C) for both genders, suggesting CI to be the dominant anterior tooth. Some gender differences in tooth dimensions, with males tend to have longer tooth dimensions than females, the average width/length ratio of the female is higher than male, which confirms that the male tends to have longer teeth. The result shows the absence of golden proportion (GP) ratios suggesting that the Golden Proportion guideline was not applicable for the Hong Kong SAR population for either gender.