Position and asymmetry of teeth in untreated dental arches.

The position and asymmetry of all permanent teeth (right second molar to left second molar) were studied in 50 men and 45 women aged 20 to 27 years with sound dentitions. The centers of gravity of the occlusal surfaces of teeth were individualized on dental casts. The maxillary arch distances between homologous teeth were all larger than the mandibular arch distances regardless of gender. Arches in women were found to be significantly smaller than arches in men. On average, arches were symmetric with mean indexes ranging from 0.28% to 4.57%. Results demonstrated that a certain degree of morphological asymmetry may be considered a normal finding.