Premium
The Size and Shape of the Alveolar Process: A Morphometric Analysis of the Dental Arch During Fetal and Infantile Development
Author(s) -
Cusick Abbey Marie,
Zdilla Matthew J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.06037
Subject(s) - maxilla , dental arch , premaxilla , cephalometry , dentistry , medicine , alveolar process , orthodontics
The development of the alveolar process is closely tied to numerous oral pathologies, including cleft lip and cleft palate. Despite the importance of the alveolar process, little gross anatomical study has been performed with regard to its development. Therefore, this study analyzed 187 dry maxillae from 109 individuals aged from five‐months intrauterine to five‐months post‐natal. Distances between the centers of the five alveoli were measured via photogrammetry. Interalveolar distances and age (months development) were utilized to develop best‐fit regression equations. Paired‐samples t‐tests were performed between left‐ and right‐sided interalveolar distances. Also, geometric morphometric analysis was performed and included canonical variate analysis to identify shape change among different age groups and between‐block partial least squares analysis to assess covariation in the premaxillary alveolar process and alveolar process of the maxilla proper. The interalveolar parameter most closely related to age was that of the intermolar distance (Distance = [−0.02962(age 2 )] + [0.8854 (age)] + 0.7475; r 2 =0.5983). Additionally, three out of four inter‐alveolar distances in addition to the total length of the dental arch significantly differed between the left and right sides (p=0.0003, p=0.0027, p <0.0001, p=0.0078, respectively). Alveolar arch shape was significantly different among most age groups; this was especially the case when there was a greater difference in age (i.e., early intrauterine vs late post‐natal). Furthermore, PLS analysis demonstrated a strong relationship between the shapes of the premaxilla and maxilla proper (Correlation coefficients of PLS1 and PLS2 were 0.73 and 0.70, respectively). The results of this study improve the understanding of alveolar process growth― age is best estimated by intermolar distance (and vice‐versa), there is asymmetry between left‐ and right‐sided maxilla growth, dental arch shape changes with age, and the shape of the premaxilla is closely related to the shape of the maxilla proper. Support or Funding Information Funding: WV Research Challenge Fund [HEPC.dsr.17.06]