An evaluation of the relationship between periocular anthropometric measurements and mandibular incisor crowding

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to determine whether a relationship exists between the periocular anthropometric measurements (POAM), intercanine width, and Little’s irregularity index (which measures the crowding of the mandibular incisors) among the Turkish population. Methodology: Ninety-four children (49 with mandibular crowding and 45 in a control group) aged 12–18 years were included in this study. Subjects’ inter-outer canthal distance (IOCD), inter-inner canthal distance (IICD), interpupillary distance (IPD), inter-canine width (ICW), and Littles’ irregularity index (LII) were measured from two standardized digital photographs using a public domain Java processing program (ImageJ software). Spearman’s correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression tests were used to investigate the relationship between POAM, ICW, and LII. Results: For the mandibular crowding group, the means of IICD, OICD, IPD, and ICW were 30.6 ± 1.7 mm, 82.4 ± 2.0 mm, 59.2 ± 1.6 mm, and 23.3 ± 1.1 mm, respectively. For the control group, the means of the corresponding measurements were 32.1 ± 1.5 mm, 84.4 ± 2.4 mm, 60.1 ± 1.9 mm, and 24.6 ± 1.4 mm, respectively. Statistically significant differences were found between the groups among all variables (p < 0.001). A negative correlation was found between POAM and ICW with LDI. In particular, a high correlation was found between the ICW and IICD variables (r = -0.732, p < 0.001 versus r = -705, p < 0.001, respectively). As a result of this study’s multivariate regression analysis, IICD and ICW were found to be affected by mandibular crowding negatively and significantly (p = 0.003 and p = 0.026, respectively). Conclusion: Based on the results of our study, we concluded that IICD— which remains stable after the age of 10 years—and ICW can be used to predict irregularities of the mandibular incisors among children in the Turkish population.