Dental arch changes from adolescence to adulthood in a Spanish population: a cross-sectional study

Given the controversy in the literature about the variations in intercanine and intermolar distances and arch perimeter once the eruption of permanent teeth is completed, the aims of this study were to assess the changes of these measures with age, analyzing its sexual dimorphism and variability in a Spanish population.

188 Spanish individuals distributed in three age groups were selected: 63 adolescents (mean age: 14.15 years), 62 young adults (mean age: 21.9 years) and 63 adults (mean age: 40 years). The intercanine and intermolar distances and arch perimeter were measured in each dental cast from each individual of the sample using a digital method. The results were compared between sex and age groups, the sexual dimorphism percentage (%) of each measure and its variability coefficient (VC%) were calculated.

The results depend on sex and age and, therefore, these two factors will be analyzed jointly for each of them with the variation coefficient of the measurement. Intercanine and intermolar distances and arch perimeter were greater in men than in women, especially in the young adult and adult groups.

The intercanine distance and arch perimeter tended to decrease with age particularly in the female sex, whilst the intermolar distance didn 't undergo significant changes. The intercanine distance is the dimension that presented the greatest variability, whereas the intermolar distance presented the least. The changes occur in the transition from adolescence (14 years of age) to adulthood (22 years of age) and the subsequent alterations are not relevant.