Evaluation of the correlation between facial index and the cortical bone thickness of the maxilla and mandible—A computer tomography based study

Abstract

Objectivescortical bone thickness confines the position of teeth and thus can be a limiting factor for orthodontic tooth movement. The study is aimed to correlate the cortical bone thickness of the maxilla and mandible with that of different face types, viz; dolichofacial, brachyfacial, and mesofacial. MethodsForty CT scans were analysed for the face types and were grouped into dolichofacial (13), brachyfacial (13) and mesofacial (14) face types. The scans were measured for the right and left side buccal and lingual cortical bone thickness at the central incisor, first and second molar regions on both the maxilla and mandible. Other parameters like basal cortical bone thickness, height, and width of cortical bone were also measured. To determine the correlation and difference between the different parameters, the obtained data was subjected to the correlation coefficient, t test, and ANOVA statistical analysis. ResultsMaxillary buccal cortical bone thickness of central incisors was found to be highly correlated to facial index with a correlation coefficient of − 0.833 * *. Mandibular buccal bone thickness correlated with face type and cortical bone thickness at the central incisor, first, and second molars by-0.531 * *, − 0.474 * *, and − 0.589 * *, respectively. There was a significant difference between the right and left side cortical bone thickness (p < 0.05) and also for all the parameters amongst the different face types (p < 0.05). ConclusionThere exists a definite correlation between the face type and the certain anatomical measurements of cortical bone morphology. Dolichofacial face types show thin buccal cortical bone, which implies the limitation of orthodontic tooth movement in these types of individuals.