Enamel thickness of human mandibular canine: A radiographic study

Abstract

Enamel thickness of posterior mandibular dentition has been widely studied to explore the role of masticatory load in determining enamel pattern. Mesial-distal pattern of enamel thickness in posterior teeth is either a reflection of increasing magnitude of bite forces posteriorly or a developmental phenomenon. In the earlier sexual dimorphism studies, the thickness of enamel was more in females than males. However, research diverted to the importance of dentin in determining sexual dimorphism and its relation to the bite forces, with males showing greater dentin resulting in bigger teeth in them. This study had two objectives, one to examine the mesiodistal pattern of enamel thickness of mandibular canines and second to examine the sexual dimorphism in enamel proportion of mandibular canines. Crown width, mesial and distal enamel thickness, enamel cap area and tooth area were measured on digital periapical radiographs of mandibular canines of 85 subjects (44 females and 41 males) of Asian ethnicity using ImageJ. Mesial-distal enamel thickness was statistically analyzed by mixed factorial ANOVA and sexual dimorphism was assessed by logistic regression analysis. Enamel was significantly thicker on the distal than the mesial margins of human mandibular canines similar to the posterior dentition pattern. Sexual dimorphism was observed in enamel cap area as well mesial and distal enamel thickness with females showing more relative proportion of enamel than males