The relationship between occlusal and skeletal characteristics and lower incisor wear.

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate if a relationship exists between certain skeletal and dental characteristics and the amount of incisal wear of mandibular incisors. In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, an index specifically designed to measure incisal wear on dental study casts was used to examine mandibular incisal wear in 215 subjects using pre-treatment records from the University of Minnesota orthodontic clinic. Multiple linear regression analysis (R2 = 0.3886) resulted in a regression model with five independent variables. Age, gender, incisor irregularity, UI-SN and Sn-GoGn were all shown to be significantly associated with increased mandibular incisal wear. Based on these findings, a prudent clinician may be able to use dental and skeletal relationships to better predict patients who are at a risk for increased tooth wear.