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Bolton Analysis is a
tooth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, t ...
analysis developed by Wayne A. Bolton to determine the discrepancy between size of maxillary and mandibular teeth. This analysis helps to determine the optimum interarch relationship. This analysis measures the Mesio-distal width of each tooth and is divided into two analyses.


History

Wayne A Bolton presented this analysis in the year 1958. In 1962, he published another paper which talked about clinical applications of using Bolton Analysis in Orthodontics. He graduated from
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
dental school in 1950. A boley gauge is usually the instrument of choice to measure the widths of each teeth. However, in 1995, Shellhart et al. showed during their study that Vernier caliper can also be used as an alternative for Bolton Analysis. Many other investigation models have been developed, such as measurement from photocopies and
traveling microscope A travelling microscope is an instrument for measuring length with a resolution typically in the order of 0.01mm. The precision is such that better-quality instruments have measuring scales made from Invar to avoid misreadings due to thermal effe ...
but the studies have produced no results. Recently, digital calipers from companies such as OrthoCad, are being used to measure the mesiodistal widths of the teeth.


Analysis

An ''Overall Analysis'' measures the sum of mesio-distal width of all 12 (first molar to first molar) mandibular teeth and compares them to the 12 maxillary teeth. The overall ratio known to be 91.3%. The ''anterior analysis'' measures the sum of Mesio-distal width of front 6 mandibular teeth and compares them to maxillary teeth. The anterior ratio is known to be 77.2%. An overall ratio of more than 91.3% means that the mandibular teeth are bigger when compared to normal. A ratio smaller than 91.3% would mean the mandibular teeth are smaller than normal. Anterior analysis follows the same principle. Having a different ratio than normal is referred to as Bolton Discrepancy. A standard deviation of more than 2 yields a significant discrepancy.


Drawbacks

One of the drawbacks of this analysis, is that the sample that Bolton measured in his paper in 1958, consisted of only
Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...
population. Therefore, Bolton's Overall Ratio and Anterior Ratio Mean and Standard Deviations are not representative of samples from other race and population. In addition, because the samples that were measured had perfect
malocclusion In orthodontics, a malocclusion is a misalignment or incorrect relation between the teeth of the upper and lower dental arches when they approach each other as the jaws close. The English-language term dates from 1864; Edward Angle (1855-19 ...
, any samples after performing Bolton Analysis, will yield a high discrepancy compared to Bolton ratios. It is seen that majority of the populations when studied and compared to Bolton's ratios, are usually not ideal compared to his ratios.


References

{{Orthodontology Dentistry Teeth Dentistry procedures