Dental arch dimensions in the mixed dentition: a study of Italian children born in the 1950s and the 1990s

The objective of this study was to compare the dental arch dimensions in the mixed dentition in two modern samples living in the same geographic area and separated by almost 35 years. A group of 83 subjects (39 boys and 44 girls) born between 1953 and 1959 (mean age: eight years and three months +/-15 months for the boys and seven years and 11 months +/-12 months for the girls) were compared with a group of 84 subjects (38 boys and 46 girls) born between 1990 and 1998 (mean age: eight years and eight months +/-12 months for the boys and eight years and four months +/-11 months for the girls). Measurements were taken on dental casts for posterior and anterior arch segments, intermolar and intercanine width, and mesiodistal size of incisors. The available anterior space in both arches and the posterior and anterior transverse dimensions were calculated. Groups were compared using a nonparametric test (Mann-Whitney U-test) for independent samples (P < .05). Results show that both boys and girls of 1990s showed significantly smaller maxillary intermolar width when compared with 1950s. Posterior transverse interarch discrepancy was significantly minor in girls of 1990s. The present population has a greater probability of developing a malocclusion as a consequence of the secular trend toward the reduction of the width of the upper arch.