OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the thickness of the palatal bone plate, the buccolingual angulation of maxillary incisors, and the relationship between these two parameters according to sex.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cone-beam computed tomography images of 37 Asian patients (20–60 years old) with no evidence of dental treatment in the maxillary incisor area were collected and classified into groups based on sex and incisor locations. Sagittal slices were used to measure the palatal bone plate thickness at the cervical, middle, and apical levels, and the buccolingual angulation of each tooth was also measured. The intraclass correlation, Shapiro-Wilk test, descriptive analysis, Student’s t-test, and Pearson correlation were used for statistical and correlation analyses, with P < 0.05 applied as the criterion for statistical significance.
RESULTS: At the apical level of all inspected teeth and the middle level of lateral incisors, the palatal bone was significantly thicker in males than in females. The inclination of the maxillary lateral incisor showed a significant moderate negative linear correlation with the palatal bone thickness at the apical level (R = –0.517 and R = –0.579 for males and females, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: In an Asian population, an increased buccolingual angulation of the maxillary lateral incisors was correlated with a thinner palatal bone plate at the apical level.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Clinicians should be aware of the thinness of the palatal bone plate when identifying severe protrusion of maxillary incisors especially in Asian patients, since this could result in perforation of the palatal bone plate during surgical procedures associated with immediate implant placement.
