Dental arch sizes and shapes of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Highlanders (Wabag,
Enga Province, 26 males and 26 females) were measured using photographs of
dental casts and compared with those of five populations in the Pacific reg
ion (Fiji, Samoa, Kiribati, Australia, Japan). The dental arch breadths of
the Wabag males and females were the largest among the six groups. The Waba
g males had the shortest lengths and the Wabag females were in the middle r
ange among the six groups. As a result, the dental arches of the Wabag peop
le proved to be short and broad. Principal component analyses based on arch
measurements showed that the Wabag people were close to Fijians suggesting
that these two Melanesian populations had similar dental arch forms.