Abstract
Statement of problem: Agenesis of the maxillary lateral incisor is linked to differences in overall tooth size. Thus, the mesio-distal space required for final esthetic restoration in patients with missing one of both maxillary lateral incisors may be smaller. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to determine if a tooth size discrepancy exists in orthodontic patients with agenesis of the maxillary lateral incisor(s). Material and methods. Forty sets of dental casts from white orthodontic patients (19 male and 21 female) mean age 15.9 years were collected. All casts had agenesis of one or both maxillary lateral incisors. The teeth were measured with a digital caliper at their greatest mesio-distal width and then compared to a control group matched for ethnicity, age and sex. S One-way repeated measures ANOVA (α=.05) was used for statistical analysis. Results. Males in the test group had significantly smaller maxillary posterior teeth when compared to males in the control group, with differences ranging from 0.28-0.78mm. Females showed significantly smaller maxillary anterior teeth, with differences ranging from 0.22-0.42mm. The remaining maxillary lateral incisor was also significantly smaller (1.27mm difference) in the male and female unilateral agenesis test groups indicating higher incidence of ‘peg’ laterals when compared to the control group. Conclusions. Agenesis of one or both maxillary lateral incisors is associated with a tooth size discrepancy. White males experienced smaller than normal posterior maxillary teeth and females showed smaller anterior maxillary teeth.