Selection of Appropriate Artificial Maxillary Central Incisor Size Using Dimensions of Hard Palate

Objective:To determine the ratio between width of hamular notches and maxillary central incisors' width at cervical, incisal and contact points. Study Design: Cross–sectional descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Prosthodontics, Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry, Rawalpindi from Feb 2010 to Aug 2010. Materials and Methods:Impressions of the maxillary jaw of 125 subjects were made and casts were obtained. A precise caliper was used to make the measurement ofthe widths of the maxillary central incisors at three different levels; the incisal edge (IW), at the level of interdental contact points (ConW) and in the cervical region(CerW).The hamular width (HW) was measured between the most mesial demarcation point of the left and the right hamular notches.The ratios between the hard palate width (HW) and maxillary central incisor widths at all the three levels (IW, ConW, CerW) were calculated.Data was analyzed using SPSS 16. Results: Of the125 subjects, 52 (41.6%) were males and 73 (58.4%) were females while mean age of the subjects was 26.56 years. Ratios HW/CerW, HW/IW and HW/ConWwere calculated as 6.08+0.18mm, 5.9+0.17mm and 5.81+ 0.17mm. Conclusion: The HW can be used as a preliminary method for determining the width of the maxillary central incisor.