Resumen de Shovel incisors: frequency in orthodontic patients of different ethnic groups
Ramón Domínguez-Mompell Micó, Carmen De la Cruz Fernández, María Marcianes Moreno, Rocío Morón Duelo, Pablo García-Camba Varela, Margarita Varela Morales
Introduction: Shovel teeth, a structural trait observed with great frequency in native Americans and Chinese, can condition the expression and treatment of malocclusions. The objective of this study is to compare their frequency and degree of expression in the samples of Chinese, Native American and Caucasian patients that had requested treatment in an Orthodontics Unit of the Region of Madrid.
Method: 63 patients of both sexes were selected, between 8 and 56 years of age: 15 were of Asiatic-Mongoloid origin, 15 were Amerindians and 33 Caucasian. The presence and degree of the “shovel” trait was evaluated of the teeth 11 and 12 in the plaster models by means of the Arizona State University Scale. For the statistical analysis, the Chi-square and Fisher association tests were used.
Results: The “shovel” trait was present practically in all the Asiatic-Mongoloid patients (100%) and Amerindians (93.3%), being infrequent in the Caucasians (12.1%) (P<0.0001). The degree of expression of the trait was moderate/severe in 66.6% of the Asiatic—Mongoloid patients, in 71.4% of the Amerindians and only in 25% of the Caucasians.
Conclusions: The “shovel” trait was practically constant in the Asiatic-Mongoloid and Amerindian subjects of our series and rare in the Caucasians. Due to the numeric importance of the population of these ethnic groups in our country, the orthodontist should be familiarised with a trait that can impact the treatments.
