Assessment of The Relationship of Incisive Papilla to Maxillary Central Incisor and Canine-Papilla-Canine Line among the Dentate population of Central Nepal.

Background Incisive papilla has been used as a fixed anatomical landmark to guide in teeth arrangement. Objective To assess the relationship of distance from central incisor to incisive papilla with various types of arch forms, shapes of incisive papilla and types of canine-papillacanine relation. Method Two hundred maxillary stone casts were prepared. Eighteen casts were excluded as they had voids and the final study was carried out in 182 participants. The arch form was assessed according to Testut L. and shape of incisive papilla was recorded according to Filho IE et al. A digital Vernier caliper was used to measure the distance from posterior point of incisive papilla to the mesio-incisal edge from the labial side of maxillary central incisor. The inter-canine line was drawn and its position with incisive papilla was assessed. The analysis was done using SPSS version 20.0. One way ANOVA was done. Result Result showed that parabolic type of arch was the most common i.e. 76.4%. Mean distance of central incisor to incisive papilla was 11.093±1.894 mm. No significant difference was observed in the distance of Central incisor to Incisive Papilla among different arch forms (p=0.854) and various shapes of incisive papilla (p=0.091). The mean distance of central incisor to incisive papilla was significantly greater when canine-papilla-canine line passed from the middle than from posterior part of incisive papilla. Conclusion These results suggest that incisive papilla is a reliable biometric guide which would help to reduce the clinical time of both the dentist and the patients in placement of the anterior teeth.