Some principles in the dental crown construction in permanent maxillary centrals of Slovenians

To increase the understanding of the incisors crown form, the lingual fossa depth, crown width and crown thickness between lingual marginal ridges of the permanent maxillary centrals were measured on 257 stone casts of Slovene children. The right-left, male-female differences, as well as the correlations between the variables themselves were analysed. Male centrals exhibited wider and thicker crown compared to female centrals, while the lingual fossa depth showed no sex differences. A positive correlation in terms of positive allometry between lingual fossa depth and crown width was established. A negative lingual fossa depth-crown thickness correlation was found with female left centrals. High right-left symmetry was established, except for the directional asymmetry of all three measured variables on female centrals. The results indicate that the positive correlation in terms of positive allometry between the thickness of the lingual marginal ridges and the crown width is one of the basic principles of the crown formation for the permanent maxillary centrals. Usually we have to work with absolute thickening of the lingual marginal ridges because relative thickening on the account of the crown thickness is less usual. The latter possibility is less favourable for the firmness of the dental crown.