AIM: To analyze variations in palatal morphology in subjects presenting with unilaterally impacted maxillary permanent central incisors (IIG) compared with a control group (CG) of subjects without eruption anomalies using three-dimensional (3D) analysis.
METHOD: Twenty-six Caucasians (10 females, 16 males; mean age 9.5 ± 1.5 years) with IIG were compared with a CG of 26 subjects (14 females, 12 males, mean age 8.7 ± 1.6 years) presenting no eruption disorders. For each subject, dental casts were taken and the upper arch was scanned using a 3D laser scanner. To study the entirety of the shape of the palate at any point of the surface, 3D geometric morphometrics was applied.
RESULTS: IIG showed skeletal adaptations of the maxilla. In the IIG, both superior palatal region and lateral palatal surface showed significantly different morphologies when compared with CG, with a narrower and higher palatal vault.
CONCLUSIONS: The absence of maxillary central incisors over the physiological age of eruption influenced the development of palatal morphology compared to subjects without eruption anomalies.
PAVONI C1, BRUNELLI V1, HUANCA GHISLANZONI L2, LIONE R1,
DEPARTMENTS OF ORTHODONTICS, UNIVERSITY OF ROME TOR VERGATA, ITALY1
AND UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA, SWITZERLAND2
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