Evaluation of nursing staffs' documentation standard related to assessment of maximum mouth opening among students of college of dentistry Babylon University

الملخص EN

Objectives: This study investigated the maximum mouth opening and its correlation with age among male and female students of college of dentistry, Babylon University.

Patients and methods: A total of 317 students (140 males and 177 females) age ranged 20-25 years were recruited in this study.

Each student was asked to open his/her mouth as wide as possible.

The distance between the incise edge of upper right central incisor and the opposing tooth of the lower jaw was measured using a manual caliper.

Results: The maximum mouth opening was 58 mm ±7.21 and 42 mm ±6.98 for males and females, respectively.

The maximum mouth opening of males is significantly larger than that of female (P= 0.000).

For males the highest value of mouth opening was observed in the age 23 years and a negative and insignificant (P=0.472) correlation was seen in the ages (24 and 25 years).

For females the maximum mouth opening was noticed in the age of 20 years and a significant decreased (P=0.000) of mouth opening was observed then after.

Conclusion: Males have wider mouth opening compared to females.

Maximum mouth opening for males and females decreased with age.

However, regardless the gender, non-specific correlation was observed between age and mouth opening.

Recommendation: Further study to clarify the effect of age on mouth opening and the correlation between mouth opening and body weight