Correlation between intercondylar distance and mandibular intermolar distance for teeth arrangement

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to find out the potential relationship of intercondylar distance with mandibular intermolar distance. It was a cross-sectional comparative study and was carried out from August 2011 to Jan 2012. The present study was carried out on 250 dentate subjects selected from the department of Prosthodontics, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore. The orthodontically treated subjects and those with congenital or acquired orofacial deformities were also excluded. Al the subjects with a history of tempro-mandibulr joint dysfunction and pain were not included in the study. The impression of the maxillary arch was obtained using irreversible hydrocollide. The vernier caliper was used to measure the distance between the mesiobuccal cusp tips of mandibular first molars. The distance between both the condyles was recorded using an arbitary face bow. The intercondylar distance was measured in millimeters with the help of the vernier caliper. For accuracy every distance was measured three times by the same operator and the mean taken. For the statistical analysis the data was recorded on the proforma. The statistical results of the present study showed that the Pearson correlation coefficients [r] for the intercondylar distance and mandibular intermolar are showing positive correlation and significant [r=0.54 p=0.0005]. It was concluded that the Intercondylar distance measurement can be utilized for the arrangement of posterior teeth in edentulous patients