Treatment of a Class I malocclusion with a carious mandibular incisor and no Bolton discrepancy.

Occasionally orthodontists must plan treatment for a patient with extensive caries or a traumatic injury to one mandibular incisor. If the patient has a Bolton discrepancy, one treatment option could involve extraction of the affected mandibular incisor. However, if the patient does not have a Bolton discrepancy and a mandibular incisor is extracted, the treatment becomes more complicated. This case report will present and discuss the ramifications of extracting one mandibular incisor in a patient without an anterior tooth-size discrepancy. The CDABO Student Case Selection Committee chose this case for publication.

Comparing the perception of dentists and lay people to altered dental esthetics.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to determine the perceptions of lay people and dental professionals with respect to minor variations in anterior tooth size and alignment and their relation to the surrounding soft tissues. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Smiling photographs were intentionally altered with one of eight common anterior esthetic discrepancies in varying degrees of deviation, including variations in crown length, crown width, incisor crown angulation, midline, open gingival embrasure, gingival margin, incisal plane, and gingiva-to-lip distance. Forty images were randomized in a questionnaire and rated according to attractiveness by three groups: orthodontists, general dentists, and lay people; 300 questionnaires were distributed. RESULTS: The response rate was 88.2% for orthodontists, 51.8% for general dentists, and 60.6% for lay people. The results demonstrated threshold levels of noticeable difference between the varying levels of discrepancy. A maxillary midline deviation of 4 mm was necessary before orthodontists rated it significantly less esthetic than the others. However, general dentists and lay people were unable to detect even a 4-mm midline deviation. All three groups were able to distinguish a 2-mm discrepancy in incisor crown angulation. An incisal plane cant of 1 mm as well as a 3-mm narrowing in maxillary lateral incisor crown width were required by orthodontists and general dentists to be rated significantly less esthetic. Lay people were unable to detect an incisal plane asymmetry until it was 3 mm, or a lateral incisor narrowing until it reached 4 mm. Threshold levels for open gingival embrasure and gingiva-to-lip distance were both at 2 mm for the orthodontic group. Open gingival embrasure became detectable by the general dentists and lay people at 3 mm, whereas gingiva-to-lip distance was classified by these groups as noticeably unattractive at 4 mm. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The results of this study show that orthodontists, general dentists, and lay people detect specific dental esthetic discrepancies at varying levels of deviation, which may aid the dental professional in making specific treatment recommendations.