Relationships between facial divergence and DMD parameters

Patients recruited for the study had a mean age of 19.8 ± 0.5 and were distributed as follows: 28 normodivergent, 31 hypodivergent and 31 hyperdivergent, 42 females and 48 males. Comparison showed that hypodivergent subjects had less crowding than hypo- or normodivergent individuals (P < 0.05). Hypodivergent subjects had a more pronounced curve of Spee than the other two groups. This difference was not significant (P > 0.05). Hyperdivergent subjects presented more labioversion and vestibular positioning of the incisors compared with the hypodivergent (P < 0.05) and normodivergent (P < 0.05) groups. Correlation analysis showed that crowding and the incisor positions in millimeters and in degrees were positively correlated to a moderate extent with facial divergence (r = 0.3, r = 0.5, r = 0.4; P < 0.05), while the curve of Spee was not (P > 0.05). No correlation was found between age or sex and the DMD parameters (P > 0.05).