Comprehensive assessment of maxillary and mandibular miniplate insertion sites in normo- and hyperdivergent facial patterns using cone-beam computed tomography.

To analyze the quality and quantity of bone in the anterior maxillary (AMM), infra-zygomatic (IZM), para-symphyseal (PSM), and mandibular buccal shelf (MBSM) miniplate insertion sites in normo- and hyperdivergent facial patterns of both genders. One hundred and twenty Caucasian patients fulfilling the selection criteria were included in this retrospective, cross-sectional study. Cortical Bone Thickness (CBT), Relative Cortical Bone Density (RCBD), and Inter-radicular Space (IRS) were analyzed at 15 anterior maxillary, 3 infra-zygomatic, 6 para-symphyseal, and 9 mandibular buccal shelf insertion sites in each side by utilizing Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) scans. Overall, the CBT of the AMM, IZM, and MBSM were significantly thicker in males than females in normo- and hyperdivergent facial patterns, while for PSM, it was significantly greater in females with normodivergent and lesser in females with hyperdivergent facial pattern (P ≤ 0.05). In most of the insertion sites, hyperdivergent facial pattern presented with thinner cortical bone than normodivergent ones (P ≤ 0.05). Regarding the RCBD, no significant differences were reported in all insertion sites between both genders in normodivergent pattern (P ≥ 0.05), while for the hyperdivergent pattern, there was significantly greater density in males in AMM only. Males generally have greater cortical bone thickness than females, except at the para-symphyseal site for normodivergent patients. The cortical bone thickness of the infra-zygomatic miniplate and the relative cortical bone density of all miniplate insertion sites are non-gender specific. The hyperdivergent facial pattern typically have thinner cortical bones.