J Ind Orthod Soc 2004; 37:154-159

RESEARCH Evaluation of Applicability of Moyers'

Mixed Dentition Analysis For Central India
Population
Dr Arun Nayak
Post Gradu ate stud e nt

Dr- (MrsJ P_V.Hazarey, MDS(Bom)

Prof a nd Head

De pt of Orthodo nti a
Govt De nt a l Co ll ege a nd Hospit a l
N ag pur

Abstract The importance of Mixed dentition analyses has increased with a rise in the numbers of early
treatment cases. Moyers' Probability tables have been popularly used for the same. However,
its applicabi lity to populations of different ethnic origins is questionable. This study therefore
aimed to evaluate the applicability of the Moyers' tables to the Central India population. This
study was carried out on 100 pretreatment study models. The data was subjected to statistical
analysis using linear regression method. It was seen that there exists a significant difference
between the predictions of upper and lower canine-premolar segments made with Moyers
75 1h percentile values and the actual widths as measured on the study models. This
necessitated the construction of new probability tables for the Central India population. The
proposed tables have been presented and it is intended that they should be used by
practitioners and researchers for accurate mixed dentition analysis and to confirm upon its
validity when applied to the Central India population.

Keywords Mixed dentition analysis, probability tables.

Space analysis by means of quantification of tooth-
size arch length discrepancy and management is an
important aspect of orthodontics. However, with the
increased interest that has been expressed in early
treatment by a sizeable segment of the orthodontic
community, it is often necessary to quantify such
discrepancies prior to the eruption of the permanent
canines and premolars. Mixed dentition analysis forms
an integral aspect of orthodontic diagnosis to determi ne
whether the treatment plan is going to involve serial
extraction, space maintenance, space gaining or
simply periodic observation of the patient. l
Various methods of predicting the size of permanent
cani nes and premolars are by using average tooth sizes
from published data 2,J and by using radiographic images
of the permanent teeth alone or in combination with
crown diameters measured on dental casts. 4-6
Various studies have observed that th e size of incisors
are in proportion to that of the canines and premol ars
i.e. if incisors are large, then the canines and premolars
are also large. Investigators s,7,8 have therefore proposed
an alyses to predict the size of unerupted teeth from
erupted permanent teeth. Of these, the Moyer s'
Probability tables are currently the most widely used
in orthodontics because of its advantages 8 as it can be
do ne with equal reliability by the beginner and the.
expert and for both the arches as soon as permanent
lower incisors erupt.
Most prediction methods were developed from studies
done on Caucasian populations. The applicability of
these tables to other ethnic groups has been studi ed
and few have proposed probability tables for their
respective populations. 8- lO Similarly, the present study
was carried out with the objective of evaluati ng the
applicability of Moyers' Probability tables to the Central
India population and to propose new probability tabl es
for this population.

15 4
 Nayak et al

Materials and Methods of MD width of the lower incisors using va lues

The sample consisted of pretreatment study models of
100 patients, which included 50 males and 50 fema les
with mean age of 17.2 years selected randomly from
the records of patients attendi ng the Department of
Orthodontia at Government Dental Col lege and
Hospital, Nagpur. Nagpur is centra ll y located in Indi a
and hence the patients attending this institute are from
allover the Vidarbha and nearby states and therefore
said to be from Centra l Indi a. The criteria for selection
of patients were the presence of all permanent teeth
without proximal caries or any other abnormality.
The maximum mesiodistal widths of the teeth were
measured by using digital vernier calipers (Aerospace
industries) (Least count 0.01 mm) directly from the study
models and the data was recorded as
a) MD width of the four mandibular incisors
b) MD width of mandibular canine and premolars
c) MD width of maxillary canine and premolars
d) Predicted MD widths of the mandibular and
maxillary canine and premolars on the basis
from Moyers' Probability tables (75 th
percentile)
The data was then subjected to statistica l ana lysis using
Intercoo led Stata Ver 6.0 software .
Further, lin ear regression equations to develop
probability tables were calculated as fo llows:
Y = BX+ A
Wherein, Y is the predicted width of the canine and
premolars (mandibular and maxillary) in one quadrant
in mm
X is the measured width of the four permanent
mandibular incisors in mm
A and B are the constants to be derived wherein,
A is the V-intercept and B is the slope of the regression
equation
Results
Table I shows that the mean width of the canine
premolar segments were larger for males than for
females .

Table I

Descriptive statistics
Power of test (Post-hoel - 1.0
Data distribution (Shapiro-Wi lk test) - Normal

Total (n=100) Females (n=50) Males (n=50)

Mean width of lower incisors (mm) 23.44 (SO 1.4) 23.23 (SO 1.35) 23 .64 (SO 1.45)
Mean width of lower canine premolars (LCP) (mm) 21.37 (SO 1.12) 21.09 (SO 1.08) 21.65 (SO 1.10)
Mean width predicted by Moyers' Probability tables for
22.46 (SO 0.85) 22.34 (SO 0.81) 22.58 (SO 0.88)
lower canine and premolars at 75 percentile values (mm)
Mean width of upper cani ne premolars (UCP) (mm) 22.12 (SO 1.03) 21.84 (SO 1.04) 22.39 (SO 0.96)
Mean width predicted by Moyers' Probability tables for
22.82 (SO 0.78) 22.71 (SO 0.75) 22 .93 (SO 0.81)
upper canine and premolars at 75 percentile values (mm)

Table II shows a sign ificant corre lation between the Table III shows the differences between the measured
widths of each c lass of teeth va lues and the predicted widths of canine-premo lar
segments. Paired t-test showed that all the differences
Table II : Correlation coefficients between widths of were statistica ll y significant (p<O.OOl). This means that
different classes of teeth the predicted values as per Moyers' Probability tables
were larger than the measured va lues for both sexes in
Width of L!Inc WidthofLCP WidthofUCP both the arches and hence the Moyers' Probabi Iity tables
Width of L!I nc 1.0000 cannot be relied upon.
0.6215 1.0000
WidthofLCP
(p=O.OOOl) (p=O.OOOl) Therefore to propose new probabi Iity tables for the
present population, simp le linear regression analysis was
0.6263 0.7476
WidthofUCP used to formulate separate prediction equations for both
(p=O.OOOl) (p=O.OOOl ) 1.0000
sexes. They were as follows :

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M ales upper ca nine-premolars

M ales lower ca nine-premolars
y = 0 .48 x + 11 .04
y = 0.55 x + 8.53
Discussion
J Ind Orthod Soc 2004; 37:154-1 59

Fem ales upper ca nin e-premo lars y = 0.40 x + 12.6 Th ere are definite rac ial and ethni c d iffere nces w ith
Fem ales lower ca nine-p remo lars y = 0 .38 x + 12. 17 rega rd to t oo th si ze " -' 4 as a l so ref lec t ed in th e
Wh ere in 'y' is th e pred icted va lu e fo r di ffe rent va lu es d iffe rences see n in th e p rese nt data. Th e M oyers'
of 'x'. 'x' is the indepe nde nt va riab le and 'y' is th e probab ility tab les are th erefo re neith er acc urate nor
dependent va ri ab le. app li cab le w hen tested o n a popu lati o n of d ifferent
To test th e accuracy of the pred icti o n eq uati o ns, the ethni c or igin .' o In simil arity to other stu d ies, th is study
SD of th e diffe rences and Abso lu te M ea n Error (AM E) aimed to test the ap pli cab ility of M oye rs' tab les to
of these regressio n equ at io ns we re calc ul ated (Tabl e Ce ntra l Indi a popul ati on.
V) . As AME was in ra nge of less th an 2 mm, it indi cated
Th e lower inc iso r w idth is used as a pred icto r of the
good accuracy.
canin e-p remo lar segment w idth, as th ere is sign ifica nt
Table III : Differe nce betwee n actua l w idth s of ca nine- co rrelati on betwee n th e w idth s of differe nt c lasses of
premolar segmen ts and pred icted widths using teeth. Th e prese nt stud y show ed simil ar co rre lati o n
Moyers' 75 1h percenti Ie va lues (Tabl e II) as those fo und in oth er stud ies do ne o n
Sex N Mean difference (mm) SE SO di fferent ethni c groups.9
M 50 -0.93 0. 11 0.78
Lower Sc h irmer and Wiltshire (1997) I °found that w hen the
F 50 -1 .25 0. 14 0. 99 M oyers' p robability tabl es were appli ed to th e Blac k
M 50 -0.5 4 0. 10 0.69 popul atio n of Afri ca n descent, th e poster ior max ill ary
Upper
F 50 -0.87 0. 13 0.93 teet h wo ul d be und erest im ated by 0.223 mm per
q u ad rant a n d th e m a ndibul a r tee th wo ul d be
Table VI shows th e probabi I ity tab les fo r the prese nt underestim ated by 0.5 mm per quadrant. Th e prese nt
pop ul ati o n at va ri o us pe rce ntil e leve ls. Th e lo w er stud y shows that M oyers' analys is at the 75 1h percentil e
in c isor w idths ranged fro m 2 1-26 mm in th e prese nt leve l overestimates th e predi cted va lues of th e ca nine
popul ati o n and th erefo re, th e ta bl es were constru cted - premo lar segments (Table III) . Th ese di ffe rences m ay
for thi s ra nge of va lu es. be accounted to th e differe nces in ethni c o ri gin .
Table IV : Simple linea r regression analysis of combined Th erefo re, to co nstru ct new probabi I ity tabl es, th e
mesiodistal crown diametersof unilateral permanent
v alues of coeffic ients (Table IV) and th e standard
ca nines-premolars on comb in ed mes iod istal
diameters of mandibul ar permanent incisors deviati on of th e di fference (Table V) we re used w ith
an assumptio n th at th e regressio n equ ati o ns predi ct the
Vari ables Sex N Regression coefficient R2
va lue of y at th e 50 lh percentil e, as done in a prev io us
y X A B study.9 Th e standa rd dev iatio n of di ffere nce of 0.65 -
UCP L/lnc M 50 11 .04 0 .48 0.526 1 0 .83 in thi s study indi cates a va ri ati o n of predicted
w idth s of ca nine-p re mo lars for a given w idth of lower
UCP L/lnc F 50 12.6 0 .40 0 .26 19 in c i so rs and i s co mp arabl e to th ose repo rt ed i n
LCP L/lnc M 50 8 .53 0.55 0 .53 4 3 I ite ratu re. 4 .5.8.9

LCP L/lnc F 50 12.17 0.38 0.2299

Tabl e IV : Diffe rences (mm) between actual and pred icted va lues and abso lute mean erro rs (mm) of the depe ndent variables
(w idths of canine-p remolars)
Dependent Sex SO fo r diffe rence Absolute mean % of observations wi th absolute erro r
va ri able error (AM E) < 1.00 1. 00 -2.00 >2. 00
UCP M 0.75 1. 26 36 54 10
UCP F 0.8 1 1. 39 38 30 22
LCP M 0.65 1.99 4 50 46
LCP F 0 .83 2. 14 8 42 50

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 Nayak et al

Table VI : Probability tabl es for Central Indi a population

Males Lower
21.00 21.50 22.00 22.50 23.00 23 .5 0 24.00 24.50 25.00 25 .50 26.00
95.00 21.35 21.63 21.90 22.18 22.45 22.73 23 .00 23.28 23.55 23 .8 3 24.10
85.00 21.02 21.29 21.57 21.84 22.12 22 .39 22.67 22.94 23.22 23.49 23.77
75.00 20.83 21.10 21.38 21.65 21.93 22.20 22.48 22.75 23.03 23.30 23 .58
65.00 20.68 20.96 21.23 21.51 21.78 22.06 22.33 22.61 22.88 23 ,16 23.43
50.00 20.08 20.36 20.63 20.91 21.18 21.46 21.73 22.01 22.28 22.56 22.83
35.00 19.48 19.75 20.03 20.30 20.58 20.85 21.13 21.40 21.68 21.95 22.23
25.00 19. 33 19.61 19.88 20.16 20.43 20.71 20.98 21.26 21.53 21.81 22.08
15.00 19 .14 19.42 19.69 19.97 20.24 20.52 20.79 21.07 21.34 21.62 21.89
5.00 18.8 1 19.08 19.36 19 .63 19.91 20.18 20.46 20.73 21.01 21.28 21.56
Males Upper
21.00 21.50 22.00 22.50 23.00 23.50 24.00 24.50 25.00 25.50 26.00
95.00 22.59 22.83 23.07 23.31 23.55 23.79 24.03 24.27 24.51 24.75 24.99
85.00 22.20 22.44 22.68 22 .92 23.16 23.40 23.64 23.88 24.12 24.36 24.60
75.00 21.98 22.22 22.46 22.70 22.94 23.18 23.42 23.66 23.90 24.14 24.38
65.00 21.82 22.06 22.30 22 .54 22.78 23.02 23.26 23.50 23.74 23.98 24.22
50.00 21.12 21.36 21.60 21.84 22.08 22.32 22.56 22.80 23.04 23.28 23.52
35.00 20.42 20.66 20.90 21.14 2 1.38 21.62 21.86 22.10 22.34 22.58 22.82
25.00 20.26 20.50 20.74 20.98 21.22 21.46 21.70 21.94 22.18 22.42 22.66
15.00 20.04 20.28 20.52 20.76 21.00 21.24 21.48 21.72 21.96 22.20 22.44
5.00 19.65 19.89 20.13 20.37 20.61 20.85 21.09 21.33 21.57 21.81 22.05
Females Lower
21.00 21.50 22.00 22.50 23.00 23.50 24.00 24.50 25.00 25.50 26.00
95.00 21.78 21.97 22.16 22.35 22.54 22.73 22.92 23. 11 23.30 23.49 23.68
85.00 21.35 21.54 21.73 21.92 22.11 22.30 22.49 22.68 22.87 23.06 23.25
75.00 21.10 21 .29 21.48 21.67 21.86 22.05 22.24 22.43 22.62 22.81 23.00
65.00 20.92 21.11 21.30 21.49 21.68 21.87 22.06 22.25 22.44 22.63 22.82
50.00 20.15 20.34 20.53 20.72 20.91 21.10 21.29 21.48 21.67 21.86 22.05
35.00 19.38 19.57 19.76 19.95 20.14 20.33 20.52 20.71 20.90 21.09 21.28
25.00 19.20 19.39 19 .58 19.77 19.96 20.15 20.34 20.53 20.72 20.91 21.10
15.00 18.95 19 .14 19.33 19.52 19.71 19.90 20.09 20.28 20.47 20.66 20.85
5.00 18.52 18.71 18.90 19.09 19.28 19.47 19.66 19.85 20.04 20.23 20.42
Females Upper
21.00 21.50 22.00 22.50 23.00 23.50 24.00 24.50 25.00 25.50 26.00
95.00 22.59 22.79 22.99 23.19 23.39 23.59 23.79 23.99 24.19 24.39 24.59
85.00 22.17 22.37 22.57 22.77 22.97 23.17 23.37 23.57 23.77 23.97 24.17
75.00 21.93 22.13 22.33 22.53 22 .73 22.93 23.13 23.33 23.53 23.73 23 .93
65.00 21.75 21.95 22.15 22.35 22.55 22.75 22.95 23 .15 23.35 23.55 23.75
50.00 21.00 21.20 21.40 21.60 21.80 22.00 22 .20 22.40 22.60 22.80 23.00
35.00 20.25 20.45 20.65 20.85 21.05 21.25 21.45 21.65 21.85 22.05 22.25
25.00 20.07 20.27 20.47 20.67 20.87 21.07 21.27 21.47 21.67 21.87 22.07
15.00 19.83 20.03 20.23 20.43 20.63 20.83 21.03 21.23 21.43 21.63 21.83
5.00 19.41 19.61 19.81 20.0 1 20.21 20.41 20.61 20.81 21.01 21.21 21.41

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 J Ind Orthod Soc 2004; 37:154-159

Table VII: Compariso n of present Probability tables and used for males and females respectively and
Moyers' tables at various co nfidence interva ls usin g 35 th percentile for lower arch for both the sexes.
Wilcoxon signed -rank test
3. For more accuracy in predi ct ion , it is
Upper Lower recommended that the probability tables
* P<0.0284 presented in the current study be used when
5 * P<0.767 1
performing mixed dentition analysis in Central
15 P<O.OO77 P<O.OO77
India population.
25 P<O.OO77 P<O.OO77

35 P<O.OO77 P<O.OO77 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT - The authors wish to thank

50 * P<0.5147 P<O.OO77
P<0.0152
65 P<O.OO77
75 P<O.OO77 P<O.OO77
85 * P<0.0858 P<O.OO77
95 * P<0.0858 P<O.OO77
P < 0.01 = Statistically signifi ca nt * ~ Not significant
Rani and Goel (1989) 15 suggested that the 35 th
percentile level of probability was more applicable
for the South Indian population. Th e present study
suggests that for upper canine-premolar width
prediction, the 65 th percentile level may be used for
males and 50 th percenti Ie for females and for lower
canine-premolar width prediction, 35 th percentile may
be used for both the sexes in the Central India
population.
Comparison between the present tables and Moyers'
tables (Table VII) showed that significant differences
ex isted between the predictions at all confidence
intervals except those indicated in the table. This is
due to variation of teeth sizes in different populations.
It is therefore recommended that the present probability
tables be used in the Central India population for
acc urate mixed dentition analysis. It will be
appropriate for researchers as well as practitioners to
undertake further evaluation of these tables and also
confirm on its validity.
Conclusion
1. Applying the Moyers' Probability table (75 th
perce ntile) to the Central India population
Social Medi c ine, Govt. Medical College,
Nagpur for his expe rtise and timely help in
statistical analysis.
2. It is recommended that for the upper arch, the
65 th and 50 th percentile of Moyers' tables be
Mr. Suresh Ughade of the Dept. of Preventive and
Social Medicine, Govt. Medical College, Nagpur for
his expertise and timely help in statistical analysis.
Communications
Dr. Arun Nayak
Room No.1 OS, Dept. of Orthodontia
Govt. Dental College
Medical Square
Nagpur, India 440003 .
Email: drarunnayak@yahoo.com
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Statement of Publication
l. Place of Publication Mumbai
2. Periodicity of Publication Quarterly
3. Publisher's Name Dr. Ashok Karad
Address Smile Care Centre, 13, Geetanjali, 234, S.V. Road,
Sandra (W), Mumbai 400 050
4. Printer's Name Dr. Ashok Karad
Nationality Indian
Address Smile Care Centre, 13, Geetanjali, 234, S.V. Road,
Sandra (W), Mumbai 400 050
5. Name of Printing Press Oriental Printers, Mumbai 400 025
6. Editor's Name Dr. Ashok Karad
7. Owner's Name/ Address Indian Orthodontic Society

Signature
Date:2004 Sd/-
Dr. Ashok Karad

159