KONİK IŞINLI BİLGİSAYARLI TOMOGRAFİDE SERT DAMAK ÖLÇÜMLERİNİN YAŞ VE CİNSİYETE GÖRE DEĞİŞİMİ VE SOLUNUM PATERNİ İLE OLAN İLİŞKİSİNİN DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ

Abstract

ABSRTACT Özgüven, Evaluation of Hard Palate Measurements in Cone Beam Computed Tomography According to Age and Gender and Its Relationship with Respiratory Pattern, Hacettepe University Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Specialist Thesis, Ankara, 2023. The aim of this study was to evaluate hard palate dimensions in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images according to age, gender and respiratory pattern. In our study, 364 CBCT images of patients (182 females and 182 males) aged 18 years and older were obtained from the radiology archive of Hacettepe University Faculty of Dentistry. The hard palate was measured in the coronal section and evaluated according to age, gender and respiratory pattern. Four different lengths of the hard palate and maxillopalatal arch angle were measured in the coronal section. The palatal interalveolar length (PIL) is the length of the line from the point where the enamel and crest meet at the palatal alveolar arch of one side to the same point of the alveolar arch of the other side, and the palatal alveolar depth (PAD) is the length of the vertical distance from the midline of the hard palate to the palatal interalveolar line in the coronal section, alveolar width (AW), the distance between the right and left buccal alveolar bone in coronal section, palatal arch depth/palatal inter-alveolar length (PAD/PIL), the median maxillopalatal arch angle (MPAA) formed by the lengths from the right and left alveolar arches joining at the midline of the hard palate in the coronal section was measured on the screen image using ImageJ software and statistically analysed. The breathing pattern was determined and statistically analysed by evaluating the position of the hyoid in the sagittal section on the CBCT using the hyoid triangle methodology and determining which breathing pattern (nasal or mouth breathing) the patients had. There was no statistically significant difference between hard palate dimensions and age (p>0.005). When the hard palate dimensions were compared between genders, only AW measurement was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). AW dimensions were found to be higher in males than females. When we evaluated the respiratory pattern with hard palate dimensions, a statistically significant relationship was found between the means of PIL, PAD and AW variables (p<0.05), while no significant relationship was found with MPAA and PAD/PIL variables. Our evaluation between respiratory pattern and genders was statistically significant (p<0,05). Mouth breathing was found to be more common in females than males. Our evaluation between breathing pattern and age was not statistically significant (p=0.397). Hard palate dimensions are critical for many medical applications such as orthodontic treatment planning, early diagnosis of oral diseases, implant treatment, cleft palate repair and treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. Hard palate dimensions are also used in forensic medicine for gender identification. The dimensions of the hard palate vary depending on age, gender, ethnicity, respiratory and environmentalfactors.