A cross-sectional clinical study on shape of nose inner-canthal distance and geometric progression as predictors for width of the maxillary incisor teeth

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship of anatomical landmarks of the face and geometric progression as predictors for the width of the maxillary incisor teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The central incisor width (CIW), lateral incisor width (LIW), inner-canthal distance (ICD) and inter-alar distance (IAD) from a total of 150 subjects were measured clinically. The width of the root of the nose (WRN) was measured on standard photographs of the subjects. Student t-test has been used to find the significance of parameters between male and female. Pearson correlation has been used to find any relation of the parameters. RESULTS: The IAD and the WRN measurements suggest that the shape of the nose is wider and more triangular in males. The mean maxillary CIW and ICD was significantly higher in males than females. CONCLUSION: The proportion of IAD to WRN seems to be a reliable guide for deciding the proportion of the maxillary central and LIW. The ICD, when multiplied by a decreasing function value of the geometric progression term 0.618 and divided by 2, was a reliable predictor of the maxillary CIW.