Comparison of dental and alveolar arch widths in class I and class II division 1 malocclusion

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to compare transverse dimensions of the dental arches and alveolar arches in the canine, premolar and molar regions of Class I and Class II div 1 malocclusion groups. This cross sectional study was performed at Lahore medical and dental college, from January 2011 to November 2011, using measurements on dental casts of 30 Class I and Class II div 1 adult female subjects. Twelve dental and alveolar arch width measurements were recorded from dental casts using a dial caliper. Descriptive analysis and paired sample t- test were carried out for significance [P < 0.05]. Statistically significant differences were found in two of the twelve measurements. Mandibular canine alveolar width and mandibular premolar alveolar width in Class II div 1 group were significantly narrower than Class I group. Rest of the variables did not show any significant difference. The results of our study suggest that Mandibular intercanine and interpremolar alveolar width measurements were narrower in Class II subjects and there is a tendency towards lingual cross bites in that malocclusion group