ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Minerva Stomatologica 2018 December;67(6):231-6

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4970.18.04160-2

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Prediction of dental arch width increase in the early mixed dentition using craniofacial parameters

Faezeh GHADERI ^{1, 2}, Shahla MOMENI DANAEI ³, Yasamin RAJAEI ² ✉, Azade RAFIEE ¹

¹ Oral and Dental Disease Research Center, School of Dentistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; ² Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran; ³ Orthodontic Research Center, Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran

BACKGROUND: The dimensions of the dental arch have considerable impact on treatment planning. Since the dental arch development has a relationship with the craniofacial growth, we designed a cohort study to find a regression model for predicting the mandibular arch width increase using craniofacial parameters.
METHODS: A total of 148 children, all in early mixed dentition, were selected randomly from primary schools by cluster sampling. Craniofacial anthropometric parameters were measured by a caliper bow and intercanine and intermolar widths were assessed on each subject’s dental casts by a digital caliper at baseline and after 12 months. Data were analyzed with SPSS v. 15. Student’s t-test and linear regression test were applied separately for girls and boys.
RESULTS: Out of 153 children, 148 returned for one-year follow-up meeting the inclusion criteria. The results of regression analysis showed a significant inverse correlation between intercanine width and facial index. The bigonial dimension showed a high correlation with both the intermolar width and the intercanine width increase.
CONCLUSIONS: We found that the arch width increase in the early mixed dentition could be predicted precisely based on certain craniofacial parameters.

KEY WORDS: Mixed dentition - Dental arch - Facial bones - Child - Odontometry