Association between the facial type and morphology of the upper central incisor in normal occlusion subjects.

AIM The purpose of this study was to verify the association between the facial type and the morphology of the upper central incisor, to potentially provide a guide for artificial tooth selection in esthetic and prosthetic rehabilitation. MATERIALS AND METHODS The sample consisted of 51 lateral teleradiographs (lateral cephalometric radiographs) and cast models of subjects with a naturally optimal occlusion and at least four of the six keys of Andrews, for optimal occlusion. The facial type was defined by two cephalometric measurements (SN.Gn and SN.GoGn) and classified into dolichofacial, meso- facial and brachyfacial after digitizing the radiographs. The incisor morphology was classified into quadrangular, oval and triangular after 3D digitizing the models and evaluation of the images by 12 dentists. The evaluation between the examiners was performed by Kappa test. In order to test the differences between the variables, it was used a chi-square test (5%). RESULTS No significant difference (p < 0.05) was found between the studied variables. CONCLUSION Facial type was not associated with the morphology of the upper central incisor, considering the methodology and population included in the present study. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Using the facial type as a way to select the morphology of the upper central incisor proved to be inadequate in this study.