Distribution of bone thickness in the human mandibular ramus - a CBCT-based study

Area of Science:

• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Anatomy
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Mandibular ramus bone thickness is crucial for surgical procedures.
• Accurate measurements of ramus dimensions and lingula position are needed.
• Understanding patient-specific anatomy can improve surgical outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically measure bicortical bone thickness, ramus dimensions, and lingula position.
• To identify correlations between these measurements and patient parameters.
• To classify mandibular rami into clinically relevant anatomical groups.

Main Methods:

• Reconstruction of 150 mandibular rami from CBCT scans into 3D models.
• Application of an anatomical grid for standardized bone thickness measurements.
• Measurement of ramus height, width, gonion angle, and lingula position.

Main Results:

• Established mean ramus height (44.78 mm), width (31.31 mm), and gonion angle (124.8°).
• Identified significant correlations between bone thickness and ramus proportions.
• Cluster analysis revealed two distinct groups of mandibular rami based on geometry and bone thickness.

Conclusions:

• 3D CBCT models enable precise determination of mandibular ramus dimensions.
• Anatomically oriented grids ensure measurement comparability.
• Two identified ramus groups can optimize osteosynthesis systems for better adaptation to diverse morphologies.