Transverse Growth of the Maxillo-Mandibular Complex in Untreated Children: A Longitudinal Cone Beam Computed Tomography Study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the longitudinal transverse growth of the maxillo-mandibular complex in untreated children using the Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT). Two sets of scans on 12 males (mean 8.75 years at T1 and 11.52 years at T2) and 18 females (mean 9.09 years at T1 and 10.80 years at T2) were analyzed using Dolphin 3D imaging. The transverse widths of various maxillary and mandibular skeletal landmarks and the dentoalveolar and dental landmarks at the level of first molars were measured. Overall, there were greater increases in the transverse dimension in the posterior than anterior portions of the maxilla and mandible. The increase in intergonial width of the mandible seems to be primarily due to the lengthening of the mandibular body. The dentoalveolar process at the first molar level increases at an equal rate corono-apically and is independent to the changes in molar inclination. When comparing maxillary dentoalveolar changes with that of the mandible, greater increases were noticed in the maxilla, which might be explained by the presence of sutural growth in the maxilla. Moreover, the first molars maintain their coordination with each other despite the differential increase in the maxillary and mandibular dentoalveolar processes.

The Effect of Third Molars on the Mandibular Anterior Crowding Relapse—A Systematic Review

“…Human dentoalveolar structure undergoes substantial change during growth [34,35]. The process appears more pronounced until the onset of adulthood [36], but it does not cease throughout aging, and is an adaptation to environmental conditions [37][38][39][40][41].…”

Sagittal and Vertical Growth of the Maxillo–Mandibular Complex in Untreated Children: A Longitudinal Study on Lateral Cephalograms Derived from Cone Beam Computed Tomography

“…As we previously published [25], untreated subjects who had CBCT images taken at different periods were collected from various private practices utilizing CBCT imaging (i-CAT TM , KaVo Imaging, Hatfield, PA, USA) in routine record exams, from November 2006 to July 2016. These CBCT images were taken at 120 kVp and 5 mA, with a volume size of 16 × 13 cm 2 , a voxel size of 0.3 mm, and an exposure time of 3.7 s. The subjects were not treated at the initial exam (T1) for various reasons.…”

“…A true horizontal line goes through the most inferior aspect of the orbits; • Yaw: The cranium was oriented to achieve the best symmetry of the cranial base, zygomatic, and maxillary structures on either side of the midline (Figure 1A); • Pitch: The cranium was oriented such that the Frankfurt horizontal plane was parallel to the true horizontal plane (Figure 1B). (A) roll and yaw, and (B) pitch, as previously published in [25].…”

Comparison between basal arch width in normal occlusions and class Ⅱ malocclusions by using cone-beam computed tomography

“…For transverse research, previous studies focused on 2D posteroanterior radiographs or dental casts to compare the dental and skeletal components of transverse dimensions in subjects with different sagittal facial patterns. Posteroanterior images enable the measurement of basal bone widths at the jugal points and antegonial notches, but the images provide a poor representation of bone width, especially for the mandible [ [6] , [7] , [8] ]. Dental casts analysis is used to measure intercanine and intermolar widths between the cusp tips or the fossae.…”