Upper incisor position and bony support in untreated patients as seen on CBCT

Abstract

Objective: To test the null hypothesis that there are no correlations between the morphology of the upper jaw, the position of the upper incisors, and facial type.

Materials and methods: From a sample of 191 patients, the FMA angle was used to select 20 short face type, 20 norm face type, and 20 long face type patients, aged 12 to 40 years. Using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), tomography was carried out on sagittal sections corresponding to the four upper incisors. Some parameters defining the dentoskeletal relationships, the alveolar thickness, the alveolar height, and the dental movement were measured. The measurements were processed using analysis of variance and Tukey's test.

Results: At the upper central incisors, short face type patients presented a greater alveolar bone thickness than long face type patients. In short face type and norm face type subjects the root apex of the upper incisors was farther away from the lingual cortex than in the long face type patients. At the central incisors the alveolar thickness was greater and the lingual cortex was higher with respect to the lateral incisors in all three facial types.

Conclusion: At the upper incisors, facial type is statistically significantly correlated with both alveolar bone thickness and distance between the root apex and lingual cortex.