Dental crowding and its relationship to arch dimensions - gender dimorphism

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted on a sample of 120 individuals [60 male and 60 female individuals] with dental Class I malocclusion selected from different dental institutions of Lahore, Pakistan. The patients were divided into crowed and non crowed groups with equal numbers of males and females. The sample age ranged from 12-18 years with mean age of 15.2 years. Arch width and arch length were measured in upper and lower arches at inter-canine, inter-premolar, inter-molar distances. All measurements were taken from study dental casts by a calibrated operator using vernier caliper. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 16 version for windows. The paired t-test was used to evaluate the differences between males and females and average values of the sample. The results showed that the average inter molar width in upper arch was 35.74mm to 36.95mm in females and males respectively in non crowded group. Average arch length was found 77.4mm to 82.7mm in upper arch with no crowding and 72.5mm to 76.1mm in crowded group. Males generally showed higher values in all dimensions but the differences were not statistically significant in comparison to females