AIM: The main purposes of this study were to analyze the literature related to a relevant clinic aspect, the dental arch form, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the original form in order to obtain stability after the orthodontic treatment, as well as to evaluate the methods used for establishing the dental arch form and the arch form diagrams proposed by many authors. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: It was verified that there is some controversy regarding the indication of an ideal average form and the selection of an individualized form from diagrams which provide varied formats for the dental arch. However, some progress was observed in the methodologies applied in recent studies, which will possibly provide more accuracy in arch form determination in the near future.
Dental arch; Arch form; Stability; Orthodontics
