Inter-Canthal and Inter Alar Distance as a Predictor of Width of Maxillary Central and Lateral Incisor ??? An In Vivo Study

Author(s):

Akanksha Dwivedi, Naveen S Yadav and Sunil Kumar Mishra*

Background: The solution and arrangement of maxillary anterior teeth for edentulous patients in a natural and aesthetically pleasing form has remained an elusive and challenging endeavour. Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate co-relation between maxillary right & left central and lateral incisors with inter canthal distance and between maxillary right and left central and lateral incisors with inter alar width. This study was done to determine whether inter-canthal distance and inter-alar width can be used as a predictor of width of maxillary central and lateral incisors. Subjects and Methods: To evaluate the relationship of inter canthal distance and inter alar width with the maxillary central incisor and maxillary lateral incisor, measurements from 312 subjects were obtained. Their age ranged from 18-24 years. This study measured and calculated the inter canthal distance from the medial angle to the medial angle of the palpebral fissure, width of the nose also measured and compared with the width of maxillary right and left central and lateral incisors. The mean, standard deviation, maximum and minimum values were calculated. Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient and p-value were calculated for significance. Results: There was no significant correlation between Inter canthal distance with Right central incisor width, Right lateral incisor width, Left central incisor width & Left lateral incisor width but there was significant correlation between Inter-alar width with Right central incisor width, Right lateral incisor width & Left central incisor width. Conclusion: Inter-alar width can be used as a preliminary method for determining the width of the maxillary right and left central incisors and maxillary right lateral incisor for edentulous patients.