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Computer-based evaluation of gender identification and morphologic classification of tooth face and arch forms
Semih Berksun1, Ufuk Hasanreisoğlu, Burak Gökdeniz
1Faculty of Dentistry, University of Ankara, Ankara, Turkey. berksun@dentistry.ankara.edu.tr
The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry
|December 19, 2002
Summary
Dentists could not reliably determine gender from tooth shape alone. Visual assessment of facial, arch, and tooth forms showed weak correlations, indicating a lack of defined harmony in prosthodontics.
Area of Science:
- Dental prosthodontics
- Facial morphology
- Dental aesthetics
Background:
- Sex-related differences in tooth forms are assumed in prosthodontics for optimal aesthetics.
- Harmony between face, arch, and tooth forms is considered crucial for esthetics.
- No universal rules or mathematical methods exist to define these morphologic features.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate if anterior tooth form reflects gender.
- To investigate the correlation among face, arch, and tooth forms based on dentists' perceptions.
Main Methods:
- Digital photography of 60 dental students' faces, dental arches, and anterior teeth.
- Evaluation by 13 experienced prosthodontists assessing sex and morphologic features from images.
- Intraobserver and interobserver agreement measured using Kappa statistic.
Main Results:
- Experts incorrectly identified gender from anterior tooth segments in 47% of females and 42% of males.
- Correct identification rates were 53% for females and 58% for males.
- Correlations between face-arch (54%) and face-tooth (51%) forms were higher than tooth-arch (31%).
Conclusions:
- Visual assessment of anterior tooth form alone is insufficient for accurate gender identification.
- Significant interobserver and intraobserver variability exists in classifying facial, arch, and tooth forms.
- The correlation among face, arch, and tooth forms is not strongly defined.