Diastema today and yesterday

Sa？etak Diastema in dentistry is the space between teeth. The most characteristic is maxillary midline diastema between upper central incisors. The aim of the paper was to present the prevalence of diastema and the attractiveness of diastema in different cultures and countries from ancient till contemporary times. In anthropoid apes, diastemas were present in the maxilla between the lateral incisors and canines and in the mandible the pre- and post-canine regions in connection with large elongated canines. The prevalence of individuals with diastema from Late Antique and Early Medieval period was approximately 5% and nowadays it is between 3.7% to as much as 36.8%. The perception of diastema has been the same for ages – it is a symbol of attractiveness