Mandibular bone remodelling in adults: evaluation of panoramic radiographs

Abstract

To evaluate the changes in the antegonial angle, antegonial depth and gonial angle in edentulous and dentate patients in different age groups and between genders. We evaluated 312 panoramic radiographs selected from our files. The images were grouped into four 10-year age groups (by decades). The youngest age group was 40-49 years and the oldest 70-79 years. Gender, dentition status and age were recorded. Measurements were made by two observers. No significant differences were observed for the gonial angle regarding age, gender and edentulism. For antegonial angle, the males (160.86 degrees +/-0.78) had significantly smaller values than females (165.08 degrees +/-0.58) irrespective of the dental status (P<0.0001). Edentulous individuals (161.51 degrees +/-0.83) had a smaller antegonial angle than dentate (165.05 degrees +/-0.76) and partially dentate (163.81 degrees +/-0.81) individuals (P<0.05). The antegonial depth was significantly greater for males than females (2.12 mm+/-0.09 vs 1.46 mm+/-0.07, P<0.0001). Edentulous individuals (1.87 mm+/-0.1) had significantly greater antegonial depth than dentate and partially dentate individuals (1.60 mm+/-0.1 and 1.65 mm+/-0.1, respectively). The gonial angle did not show any change with gender, age and dental status whereas the antegonial region had a resorptive pattern in the edentulous mandible. The morphology of the antegonial region was influenced by gender and dental status.