The relationship between facial proportions and root length in the dentition of dogs

The present analysis represents a follow-up to a previous experimental study in which facial shortening obtained in rats by septum removal produced also shortening of the molar roots. In the present study relative root length was compared in short-faced as against long-faced dogs and significant correlations between relative facial length and dental root length were found. Root shortening in the maxilla of short-faced dogs clusters around the areas of the premaxillary-maxillary suture and the maxillary-palatine suture. For the mandible it shifts one tooth more distally and is of lower statistical significance. This distribution seems to tie in with the greater growth arrest in the above sutural areas in the maxilla of short-faced dogs and the lesser growth arrest of their mandible.