Deciduous tooth size standards for American blacks

Normative standards for tooth sizes are valuable for assessing a given patient's status, both clinically and for evaluating intrinsic (e.g., genetic, chromosomal aberrations) and acquired conditions. There are, however, very few published standards for American Blacks and none for the deciduous teeth. Mesiodistal and buccolingual crown diameters are reported here for a series of 100 Black children. As with the permanent dentition, the primary teeth of Blacks are appreciably larger than Whites, though the amount differs by tooth type. In general, while all teeth are larger than norms for Whites, the posterior teeth (m1, m2) are preferentially larger. Applications of these standards are discussed.