Crown diameters of the deciduous teeth of Taiwanese

The purposes of this study were (1) to characterize the crown diameters of the deciduous teeth of Taiwanese; (2) to compare the differences in the deciduous crown diameters between different populations. The results might provide odontometric information in making preformed stainless steel crowns of the Chinese population. Study casts of 90 children (51 boys and 39 girls) of aged 3 to 6 years were used in this study. The maximum mesiodistal crown diameter (the greatest distance between the contact points of the approximal surfaces) and the buccolingual crown diameter (the greatest distance at a right angle to the mesiodistal measurement) were obtained by using an electronic digital caliper. Significant differences between antimeres were found in the mesiodistal diameters of maxillary canine and maxillary molars (p < 0.001) as well as in the buccolingual diameters of mandibular molars (p < 0.05). Excellent correlations between the antimeres of the corresponding teeth were found (r = 0.70 to 0.96). Boys generally had larger crown diameters than girls with the exception of mesiodistal diameters of maxillary and mandibular canines, and mandibular lateral incisor, whereas the statistically significant gender difference was only found in the buccolingual diameter of mandibular second molar (p < 0.05). The higher the percentage of sexual dimorphism, the larger the gender differences. The percentage of sexual dimorphism ranged from 0.09 to 1.94 for mesiodistal diameters and 0.04 to 2.86 for buccolingual diameters. The mandibular second molar was the most dimorphic tooth. Variations in the crown diameters of the deciduous teeth existed among and within different populations. Deciduous mesiodistal crown diameters of Taiwanese were, in general, smaller than those of Australian aborigines, Taiwan Chinese aborigines, and Hong Kong Chinese, but larger than those of American whites. When considering the buccolingual crown diameters, our data were significantly smaller than those of Icelanders, western Indians, and whites.