Analysis of the positions of anterior teeth in orthodontically treated and untreated population: A proof of uniqueness

AIM: To compare the uniqueness of human dentition in both orthodontically treated and untreated populations and evaluate the reliability of bitemark analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1464 maxillary and mandibular casts were fabricated from orthodontically treated and nontreated population. After careful examination of the study teeth, 326 nontreated maxillary cast (Group 1), 333 nontreated mandibular cast (Group 2), 336 orthodontically treated maxillary cast (Group 3), and 320 orthodontically treated mandibular casts (Group 4) were selected for the analysis. For uniformity, the sample size of 320 was selected from each group for comparison. RESULTS: The arch width was a major cause of variance. In Group 1, only 6.87% of similarity rate was seen, whereas in Group 3, the match rate increased to 55% showing similarity. In Group 2, only 1.87% similarity and Group 4 showed 42.7% match rate. CONCLUSION: The human dentition may be unique, but it loses its uniqueness once any dental treatment is carried out.