Prevalence of Tooth Size Discrepancies among a Nigerian Population.

Abstract

Background: To assess the proportion of the population of Nigerian adolescents that possess a clinically significant tooth size discrepancy, and to determine any gender differences in the prevalence of tooth size discrepancies. Methods: Casts from 372 randomly selected junior secondary school pupils in Lagos state were evaluated for frequency and magnitude of deviation from Bolton's means (Discrepancies outside of 2 SD were considered clinically significant, enough to affect treatment planning or treatment outcome). Chi-test was performed to determine differences in the prevalence of tooth size discrepancies between the sexes.
Results: A total of 32.2% and 14% of the subjects had a clinically significant anterior and overall tooth size discrepancy respectively. No significant difference in prevalence was demonstrated between the sexes. Conclusions: Clinically significant anterior tooth size discrepancies were determined in about a third of a general population of adolescents. Therefore, the problem of tooth size may be larger than the subjective view of clinicians, and it may be wise to include a tooth size analysis in the initial case work-up.