Mixed dentition space analysis in a Sudanese population

Area of Science:

• Orthodontics
• Dental Anthropology

Background:

• Accurate prediction of unerupted permanent teeth mesiodistal width is crucial for orthodontic treatment planning.
• Existing prediction equations may not be universally applicable across diverse ethnic populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the accuracy of the Tanaka and Johnston equations for predicting mesiodistal tooth width in a Sudanese population.
• To develop a new, population-specific prediction equation if current methods prove inadequate.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive, cross-sectional study involving 250 Sudanese adolescents (13-19 years).
• Manual measurement of mesiodistal widths of permanent canines, first and second premolars (CPM), and mandibular incisors (MPI) on dental casts.
• Statistical comparison of predicted versus actual tooth widths.

Main Results:

• Moderate correlation coefficients were observed between mandibular incisor and canine-premolar sums in both genders.
• Low coefficients of determination (0.45-0.48) indicated limited predictive power of existing equations for the combined genders.
• The Tanaka and Johnston equations consistently overestimated actual mesiodistal widths.

Conclusions:

• The Tanaka and Johnston equations are not sufficiently accurate for predicting mesiodistal tooth width in the Sudanese population.
• New prediction equations with improved regression parameters were proposed for enhanced accuracy in this demographic.