Abstract
For examinating the relationship between the attachment of the superior labial frenum and midline diastema, the propriety of frenumectomy and the period of tis appearance, we measured the distance from the frenum attachment to the summit of the interdental papilla, in 498 children aged from two to fourteen years, and had visited the Pedodontics, School of Dentistry, Iwate Medical University.
1) The distance of the frenum attachment increased remarkably at each age between the ages of two and four years (3.0∼4.0 mm) and between the ages of six and ten (4.0∼5.0 mm), and it scarcely changed between the ages of four and six (4.0 mm). It seems that the attachment of the frenum standardizes between the ages of eleven and fourteen years (5.3∼5.7 mm).
2) The attachment of the labial frenum in children five to seven years old, the period when they are changing anterior teeth, showed no differences betwe en the group with permanent central teeth and the group with deciduous central teeth.
3) The distance of the frenum attachment, having the diastema at five years, was shorter than when there was no diastema, and in the other age groups there was no significant distance.
4) Concerning the distribution of the distance of the attachment, the group with the deciduous central teeth in children 2-7 old were distributed bet ween 2.1∼6.0 mm and the group with permanent central teeth in children eight to fourteen years old were distributed between 3.1∼7.0 mm, therefore the group with the permanent teeth showed a greater range of distribution.
5) Frenumectomy should be administered at a low age, and the extent of the interference, should be examined until about the age of 9 and the progre ss, observed after which it can be decided whether or not to excise the frenum.
