Correlation of Canine Height to Overall Facial Height: An Observational Study

Abstract

Background: Identifying individuals by determining their body parameters plays a major role in criminalinvestigation. These parameters play an integral role in the identification of a person. Teeth, particularly canines,can help in identification, as they are the most stable teeth in the oral cavity because of the labiolingual thickness of the crown and root anchorage in the alveolar process.Aim: To establish a relationship, if any between the crown length of the maxillary canine tooth and the facialheight of an adult individual and intersex differences.Materials and methods: This study was conducted at a dental college where patients reported for treatment. The study group comprised 100 participants (50 men and 50 women, aged 18-23 years. To measure the facial height,photographs were taken and analyzed using Adobe Photoshop software. The face was divided into the upper,middle and lower thirds considering the hairlines, glabella, subnasalis, and menton as reference points. The length between the hairline and glabella is the upper facial height (UFH), that between the glabella and subnasalis is the middle facial height (MFH), and that between the subnasalis and menton is the lower facial height (LFH). For tooth measurements, impressions of the upper arches were made using alginate and dental stone casts were obtained. The length between the cervical line and cusp tip is the canine height(CH) and the mesiodistal length is the canine width(CW). Measurements of teeth were recorded using digital verniercalliper. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SSPS) version 16. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine the correlation between facial height and canine height.Results: Total Facial Height (TFH), Canine Height (CH), Canine Width (CW) in males and females was done using descriptive statistics. This study demonstrated a correlation between TFH and CH in both men and women. This study showed that, as TFH increased, CH also increased. Therefore, TFH and CH were directly proportional, and hence there was a correlation between TFH and CH.Conclusion: The total facial and canine heights are directly proportional to each other. There is a correlationbetween the facial height and canine height.