Effect of inter-premolar width on buccal corridor area show during posed smile

ABSTRACT

Orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning is in a period of remarkable change, away from a previous focus on dental occlusion and hard tissue relationship and towards a greater emphasis on soft tissue adaptation and proportions. The re-emergence of the soft tissue paradigm in clinical orthodontics has made smile analysis and designing, key elements in treatment planning. Hence the purpose of this study was to establish the correlation between one of the many variables effecting smile; the inter-premolar width with the buccal corridor area show of a patient during posed smile. 147 dental casts and frontal photographs were obtained and measured for the inter-premolar width and buccal corridor area show. SPSS version 10 was used to calculate mean and SD for age [in years], inter-premolar width and the inter-commissure width of subjects. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for gender. Pearson correlation coefficient was determined for the inter-premolar width with the buccal corridor area show. r value was determined between -1.0 and +1.0The p value for inter-premolar width and buccal corridor area show during posed smile was < 0.05 being significant. It was concluded from the study that there is a statistically significant relationship between inter-premolar width and the buccal corridor area show during posed smile