Evidence favoring a secular reduction in mandibular leeway space

Researchers have documented secular trends in tooth size among recent generations. This study was a test for a change in mandibular leeway space.

Dental casts from participants in the Denver Growth Study (23 boys, 22 girls; born in the 1930s) were compared with casts from a contemporary series of orthodontic patients (23 boys, 22 girls; born in the 1990s). All were phenotypically normal, healthy American whites.

Analysis of variance (accounting for sex) showed that the cumulative mandibular primary canine plus first and second primary molar size (c + m1 + m2) was slightly larger in the recent cohort (23.53 mm earlier vs 23.83 mm recent cohort; mean difference: 0.30 mm; P = .009), principally due to larger second primary molars (m2) in the recent cohort. In turn, the sum of the permanent canine and two premolars (C + P1 + P2) was significantly larger in the recent cohort (21.08 mm earlier vs 21.80 mm recent cohort; mean difference: 0.72 mm; P = .002). Larger teeth in the contemporary series produced a mean leeway space per quadrant of 2.03 mm versus 2.45 mm in the earlier cohort-a clinically and statistically significant reduction (P = .030). Some tooth types (primary second molar and permanent canine) were significantly larger in boys than in girls, but the sex difference in leeway space was not statistically significant.

Results suggest that mandibular leeway space is decreasing in 21st century American whites and may present a challenge to orthodontists in managing tooth size-arch length discrepancies.