Occurrence of torus palatinus and mandibularis among women of different ethnic groups

Purpose: To detect the presence of tori in women of different ethnic groups residing in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., USA. Materials and Methods: 448 females between the ages of 18-88 years participated in the st udy. There were 302 African Americans, 62 Caucasians, 43 Hispanics, 36 Asia ns, and 5 Native Americans. Results: Tori were detected in 107 African Amer icans (35.4%), 20 Caucasians (32.3%), 13 Hispanics (30.2%), 14 Asians (38.9 %), and I of the 5 Native American (20%), (P= 0.328). Torus palatinus were found in 69.7% of women, from all ethnic groups (P= 0.107). Slightly higher percentage was seen in the Hispanics, then the African Americans, with the least in the Caucasians. Torus mandibularis were found only in 38.7% of al l subjects (P < 0.05), were more common. among Caucasians, and were usually bilateral. The presence of both tori was only detected in 8.4% of the part icipants. There was no relationship between age and the presence of torus m andibularis (r= 0.074) or palatinus (r=0.008).