Distribution of bony groove for the greater and lesser palatine vessels in maxilla.

Abstract

PurposeIn dental treatments such as implant surgery, harvesting of autogenous bone from maxilla is needed for the loss of the bone mass in elder. For safe operation, determining the presence of intraosseous blood vessels and nerves in the maxilla is of highest importance. The structural features of the human hard palate, which is composed of the maxilla and the palatine bones, may alter the distribution of blood vessels and nerves in elderly patients. The greater palatine nerve and vessels rooted from greater and lesser palatine foramen, and run through a bony groove to the hard palate. We defined three groove structures: shallow groove, with a depth ranging from 1.5 mm to 3 mm; deep groove, with a depth >3 mm; and flat groove, with a depth <1.5 mm using cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) and macroscopic observations.MethodsWe investigated 72 donor cadavers using macroscopic segmentation and CBCT. The results analysis examined differences in skull measurement parameters and differences between dentate and edentulous cases.ResultsThe greater palatine artery and nerve showed different macroscopic arrangements in dentate and edentulous cadavers. The deep groove is remarkable in edentulous elderly cadavers.ConclusionIt is supposed that the distribution of the greater palatine nerve and vessels run deeper and more complicated bony groove in elderly maxilla. In planning dental implant surgeries and autogenous bone harvesting, more detailed plan using CBCT is needed to avoid unexpected complication for elder.Support or Funding InformationnoneThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.