Dental arch morphology in south-east Asian adults with obstructive sleep apnoea: geometric morphometrics

Summary The association between dental arch morphology and the aetiology of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is not clear. To compare dental arch morphology in 108 Asian adults with and without ''OSA, overnight'' hospital polysomnography was performed, and sleep reports were obtained for all subjects. Standardized digital photographs were also taken of the subjects’ upper and lower study models. Using 25 homologous landmarks, mean OSA and control dental arch configurations were computed, and subjected to finite‐element morphometry (FEM), t‐tests and principal components analysis (PCA). Mean upper and lower OSA dental arch morphologies were statistically different from respective Control upper and lower arch morphologies (P