Diastema and Frenum – An Insight

The midline diastema is a space (or gap) between the maxillary central incisors . The space can be a normal growth characteristic during the primary and mixed dentition and generally is closed by the time the maxillary canines erupt. Researchers and clinicians now believe that multiple factors may contribute to a midline space including abnormal frenum, midline bony clefts ,oral habits, soft tissue imbalances, physical impediments, dental anomalies and/or dental/skeletal disharmonies, as well as normal dentoalveolar development. Most often, during the oral examination of the patient the dentist gives very little importance to the frenum. The frena may jeopardize the gingival health when they are attached too closely to the gingival margin, either due to an interference in the plaque control or due to a muscle pull. Orthodontic and anatomic approaches have led many authors to classify the type of the frenum exclusively according to the morphological means. The importance of various types of normal to abnormal frenii associated with diastema has not been distinguished in Indian population which is of concern to periodontist, orthodontist and restorative dentist. As of now there is no comprehensive review on diastema and frenum, a tiny fold that plays an important role silently , if found abnormal in location and morphogenetically, to and gains an interdisplinary attention in dentistry Hence a first attempt is made to present a comprehensive review on diastema and frenum in this paper.