A study on the relationship between interalar width, intercanine tip distance, and denture teeth size

There are different ways such as anthropometric measurement to estimate the size of complete denture teeth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between interalar width, intercanine tip distance and anterior maxillary teeth width in a group of Iranian adults. This was an observational cross sectional study. The study included 120 dental students (60 males and 60 females) at School of Dentistry of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. First, interalar width was measured with a caliper on every subject. Then the length of the imaginary line connecting the 2 canine cusp tips (intercanine tip distance) was registered on a wax index.The collective width of the six anterior teeth was recorded using a brass wire on the prepared casts. Descriptive statistical, independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression were applied for statistical analysis (α = 0.05). The mean and standard deviation values for interalar width, intercanine tip distance, and the width of anterior maxillary teeth were 36.38 ± 3.81, 34.15 ± 2.05, and 48.23 ± 2.068 mm, respectively. There were significant relations between interalar width, intercanine tip distance and widths of the six anterior teeth. The dimensions seem to be greater in males. It seems use of interalar width can provide a more reliable predictive equation for teeth size.