Correlation of Skeletal and Dental Midlines in Patients with Bimaxillary Protrusion, The Concept of Medical Physics behind Setting Optimised Treatment Goals: A Digital Radiographic Study.

BACKGROUND

An aesthetic smile needs a balanced dental midline and symmetrical dentition. It is in this context that a discrepancy in the facial and dental midlines is considered to be one of the most common problems for orthodontists to correct.

AIM: To compare the topographical location of the skeletal (maxillary and mandibular) midlines in comparison with the dental midline in patients with bimaxillary protrusion using digital orthopantomograms.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

150 orthodontic patients aged 11-32 years with Angle's class I molar relation and class I skeletal base with bimaxillary protrusion were included. These participants were examined for their skeletal and dental midlines using digital orthopantomograms and the results obtained were subjected to statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Only 34 (22.67%) and 31 (20.67%) subjects revealed their skeletal (maxillary) midline and skeletal (mandibular) midline coinciding with the dental midline respectively. Again, only 60 (40.00%) subjects revealed their skeletal (maxillary) midline coinciding with the skeletal (mandibular) midline, while 30 (20.00%) subjects revealed deviation towards right and 60 (40.00%) subjects revealed deviation towards left when their skeletal (maxillary) midline was compared with the skeletal (mandibular) midline making midline shift towards left a more common phenomenon among the subjects included in the present study.

CONCLUSION

The results obtained in the present study may play a significant role during orthodontic treatment planning and in correlating pre-to-post-treatment results following orthodontic corrections.