[Development of the dental arch and the palate from a prosthodontic point of view]

The replacement of missing teeth by a fixed restoration in the juvenile dentition presents various problems. One of them is that the growth and development of the entire masticatory organ continues until around the 18th year of age. It was the goal of a longitudinal study to find out when a fixed tooth replacement can be used in an adolescent without impairing the final development of the jaw bones. For this reason the transverse and sagittal dimensions of the dental arches of male adolescents aged 14 to 18 years were measured every year, and the palatal surfaces were measured in the first and last year of the study. The values determined for the dental arches remained constant. The mean values and deviations revealed no significant differences. From a prosthodontic point of view the development of the dental arches and the palate may be considered as concluded.