Maxillary Tooth Sizes and Dental Anomalies in Schizophrenia Patients: A Case-Control Study

From the perspective of the developmental correlation between the face and brain, quantitative craniofacial findings such as tooth size may indicate important stages of neurodevelopment in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare maxillary tooth size and some dental anomalies in patients with schizophrenia in a blinded manner with non-psychiatric controls.

A total of 200 participants (100 patients with schizophrenia and 100 control subjects) aged 18-45 were included in the study. Plaster dental models were prepared from the measurements of the maxillary dental arch. The mesiodistal (MD) and buccolingual (BL) dimensions of the maxillary teeth were measured on dental casts by two observers using digital calipers. In addition to dimensional assessments, dental abnormalities such as tooth rotation, diastema, tooth crowding, and peg-shaped lateral incisors were also recorded.

There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of age and sex (p >0.05). Statistical analyses showed that patients with schizophrenia exhibited significantly smaller measurements in both MD (P <0.001) and BL (p <0.001) dimensions across all teeth evaluated. Furthermore, multivariate binomial logistic regression revealed MD size (B=-2.020, p <0.001) and the presence of diastema (Β=1.656, p <0.001) as significant independent predictors of schizophrenia.

Reduction in tooth size and increased presence of diastema in patients with schizophrenia may contribute to the hypothesis that there are possible variations that may represent specific markers of embryological dysmorphogenesis underlying schizophrenia.