Diastemas in primary dentition and their relationship to sex, age, and dental occlusion

Abstract

Aim: The prevalence of interincisive and primate spaces in the primary dentition, relating them to age and sex, was studied. An analysis was made as to what extent various occlusal aspects of the arches affect the existence of spacing.

Materials and methods: A population of 267 children, 153 males and 114 females, aged 2.2-8.2 years, was evaluated. All were white Caucasian, apparently healthy and lacking any congenital malformations; they had complete primary dentition and no erupted permanent teeth, without existing dental malformation and not having undergone any type of orthodontic treatment. Cast models were fabricated from impressions taken of all the children. Tooth sizes and interdental spaces were measured on these models and the various occlusal aspects were noted.

Results: The prevalence of spacing was high in the primary dentition, being independent of the chronological age of each child. Spacing was more frequent in males than in females. The presence or absence of spacing was not directly related to occlusion except in cases of posterior cross-bite, where it was less frequently, and open-bites, in which spaces appeared more often than usual.

Conclusion: Spaces in the primary dentition were very common among the population studied and more frequent in male children than in females. Primate spaces were more frequent at the earliest ages, but chronological age had no influence on the presence of interincisive spacing. The lack of the spaces in the maxillary arches, typical of the primary dentition, prevailed among individuals with posterior cross-bite, contrary to what normally happens in the rest of the population.