Relationship between tooth dimensions and malocclusion.

OBJECTIVE To observe the difference in dimension of teeth among adult females with and without malocclusion. METHODS The cross-sectional study was conducted at Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, from April 2011 to April 2013, and used non-probability consecutive sampling. Mesiodistal and buccolingual crown dimensions were measured on study casts by using digital sliding caliper in 2 groups of females. Group 1 had 150 subjects with normal occlusion, while Group 2 had 234 with malocclusion. Independent t test was conducted to evaluate the difference between the dimensions of teeth of the two groups. Statistical analysis was done on SPSS version 16, and p value was considered significant at 0.05. RESULTS Overall, the difference between the groups showed a greater tooth dimension in the malocclusion group of population compared to the normal group, and the most significant difference was observed in the mesiodistal dimension of maxillary 2nd premolar, which was 0.9 +/- 0.6801mm greater in dimension in the malocclusion group compared to the normal group. The least difference was observed in the buccolingual dimension of the mandibular central incisor where the malocclusion group had only 0.08 +/- 0.5247mm larger mandibular central incisors in the buccolingual dimension compared to the normal group. CONCLUSION Mesiodistal and buccolingual crown dimensions were characteristically larger in the malocclusion group.