Relationship Between Width of Maxillary Anterior Teeth and Interalar Distance

Abstract

There are few guides to estimate the size of denture teeth. The purpose of this observational cross sectional study of Iranian adults was to evaluate the relationship between interalar width compared to intercanine tip distance and to the summed width of the maxillary anterior teeth in adults. The samples were selected from dental students in Isfahan University. Interalar width was measured with calipers. Maxillary inter-canine distance was measured between cusp tips on dental casts. Mesiodistal widths of the six anterior teeth also were measured. Independent t-tests, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and linear regression were used for statistical analysis. Mean interalar width was 36.38 mm (sd = 3.81), intercanine tip distance was 34.15 mm (sd = 2.05), and mean width of maxillary anterior teeth was 48.23 mm (sd = 2.07). There were significant associations between interalar width and summed widths of the maxillary anterior teeth and with intercanine distance. In addition, predictive equations for estimation of tooth sizes using interalar width were calculated by regression. These statistical relationships may also be useful forensically.