Investigating the relationship between the type of occlusion and mandibular radiomorphometric indices in patients with normal facial height

Abstract

Background. The ability to predict the extent and direction of horizontal growth of the patient’s face at an early age allows clinicians to timely identify cases that require treatment during the growth period and to ensure that appropriate treatment can be administered. Objectives. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the antegonial angle, gonial angle, antego-nial notch depth, and the type of the antegonial notch on predicting horizontal facial growth in individuals with normal facial height. Material and methods. In this descriptive analytic study, lateral and panoramic radiographs of 180 patients aged 17–30 years with normal facial height who were referred to the School of Dentistry of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences and private dental clinics were investigated. The indices of the gonial angle, antegonial angle, type of antegonial notch, and antegonial notch depth were plotted bilaterally on tracing paper and subsequently measured using panoramic radiographs. Additionally, the relationship between the desired radiomorphometric indices and the occlusion class in the samples was investigated. Results. There was a statistically significant relationship between the occlusion class and the antegonial notch depth (analysis of variance (ANOVA), p = 0.048), as well as the antegonial angle (Kruskal–Wallis test, p = 0.002). Conclusions. The results of this study indicate that the antegonial notch depth and angle indices can be clinically valuable in predicting the process of mandibular growth and developing appropriate treatment plans.