[Odontometric data: applicability of Bolton's analysis to the people of Senegal]

One of the orthodontist's goals is to improve dental occlusion while taking into account dental, maxillary and facial balance. It is his responsibility, prior to any orthodontic treatment to make a positive and etiopathogenic diagnosis that will drive his treatment planning. One of the basic parameters to be considered is the mesiodistal width of the teeth. Indeed, a tooth size discrepancy often causes therapeutic failures; its diagnosis has been possible since 1958 thanks to Bolton whose researches were carried out on the American population. The principal objective of this study was to verify if his analysis is applicable to the Senegalese population. Its secondary objective was to specify the odontometric data of Senegalese subjects. For this reason, 60 Senegalese aged between 13 and 33 have been selected and for each subject we have measured the overjet and overbite, the mesiodistal and vestibulo-lingual diameters of the 12 maxillary and mandibular teeth. The obtained results have allowed us to assume that the Bolton analysis can be applied to the Senegalese population as a whole. We have also found that the Senegalese subject's odontometric data did not have any significant difference with the known data.