Prevalence of bifid mandibular condyle in a Turkish population

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of bifid mandibular condyle (BMC) using panoramic radiographs supported by different radiographic techniques. A retrospective study was carried out by evaluating panoramic radiographs of 18,798 patients referred to the Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology. T-tests were used to compare the frequency of BMC between left and right sides and between female and male patients. In this study, 98 patients (0.52%) were found to have BMC. Of these patients, 51 (52%) were females and 47 (48%) were males. Of the 98 patients, 71 (72.4%) had unilateral and 27 (27.6%) had bilateral BMC. A total of 125 BMCs were found in 98 patients. No statistically significant differences were found between the right and left BMCs or between female and male patients (P > 0.05). Because symptoms associated with BMC are either absent or minimal, it is usually discovered as an incidental finding during routine radiographic examination. Different appearances of BMC can be seen on panoramic radiographs. The exact orientation of the condyles can only be determined using 3D imaging techniques. BMC may be a more frequent condition in the Turkish population. (J Oral Sci 53, 433-437, 2011)

Evaluation of the Prevalence of Bifid Mandibular Condyle Detected on Cone Beam Computed Tomography Images in a Turkish Population

“…According to the literature, the occurrence of BMC does not show a predilection for sex or any particular age group (Miloglu et al;Menezes et al;Sahman et al, 2011Sahman et al, , 2012Cho & Jung). According to Loh and Yeo, the majority of patients were over 20 years old, which is in agreement with our findings.…”

“…In the literature review, the majority of the BMC cases were unilateral, and a bilateral pattern was rare (Miloglu et al;Neves et al;Menezes et al;Sahman et al, 2011Sahman et al, , 2012Cho & Jung). In our study, 39 (92.8%) of the BMCs were unilateral, and three (7.1%) were bilateral, which is consistent with previous study findings.…”

“…In our study, 39 (92.8%) of the BMCs were unilateral, and three (7.1%) were bilateral, which is consistent with previous study findings. Although most studies reported that BMCs involved the left side more often than the right side (Menezes et al;Sahman et al, 2011Sahman et al, , 2012Cho & Jung). Miloglu et al, showed a predilection for the right side.…”

“…Menezes et al, found nine (0.018%) cases of BMC from 50,080 panoramic radiographs in a Brazilian population, whereas Miloglu et al (2010), found 32 (0.3%) cases of BMC from 10,200 panoramic radiographs, and Sahman et al, found 98 (0.52%) cases of BMC from 18,798 radiographs in a Turkish population. According to these distinctive results, Sahman et al (2011), hypothesized that BMC might be more frequent Caglayan & Tozoglu (2012), found that 2.9% of patients had a bifid condyle as an incidental TMJ finding on CBCT scans. The prevalence of BMCs in this study was similar with the prevalence reported in previous studies that utilized panoramic radiographs and CBCT in the Turkish population; the prevalence was higher than that in other populations.…”

“…To obtain precise information regarding the orientation of BMCs, 2D conventional radiographs were insufficient and 3D imaging techniques were useful (Sahman et al, 2011). Although Dennison et al (2008), expressed that only the anteroposterior division of a condyle is a "true" bifid condyle, BMC has been generally considered in cases in which a condyle arises to be duplicated anteroposteriorly or mediolaterally (Cho & Jung).…”