Relationship Between Facial Types and Alveolar Crest Cortical Bone Thickness and CT Values Determined by Multidetector Computed Tomography.

Background/

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate the relationships between facial morphology and alveolar crest cortical bone thickness and to determine the computed tomography (CT) values using multidetector CT (MDCT).

Methods

A total of 39 subjects were categorized into three groups based on the Frankfort mandibular plane angle: low angle, average angle, and high angle. The thickness of the alveolar crest cortical bone and CT values between the canines and first premolars and between the second premolars and first molars in the maxilla and mandible were measured and analyzed from pre-treatment MDCT images. The Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn-Bonferroni tests were applied to investigate the relationships between facial types and alveolar crest cortical bone thickness, and to determine the CT values.

Results

Significant differences in cortical bone thickness between the mandibular premolar and first molar were observed when comparing the high-angle group with the low-angle group (p = 0.001) and the average-angle group with the low-angle group (p = 0.022).

Conclusions

These findings indicate that examining facial type may reveal differences in anchor loss in the mandibular molar region, which could prove useful in formulating treatment plans.