Correlations between the dimensions of human teeth, the dental arch and the mandible.

Anthropometric measurements were performed on the teeth, dental arch and mandible. Parameters for these three categories were compared by means of canonical analysis in order to understand the morphological relationships existing among them. The sagittally projected length of the mandible had a significant role in the correlation between the size of the teeth and the length of the dental arch, which had not previously been noted to date. The dental arch width was not significantly related to the size of the teeth. The lengths of the alveolar portion and the post-alveolar portion of the mandible were independent of each other. This fact might indicate that the reduction in the size of the mandible in human microevolution occurs mainly in the post-alveolar portion.