Maxillary Sinus Volume and Its Effect on Treated Impacted Canines

The goal of study was to explore the role of 3D CBCT (cone beam computer tomography) in detecting impacted canines and their movement to evaluate the influence of orthodontic therapy parameters on treatment options, and to monitor quality of healing process based on shape and size of sinus maxillae volume. It is known that the volume of maxillary sinus plays an important role in patients with impacted teeth. The prospective study consisted of 26 individuals. For each individual, pre-treatment and post-treatment CBCT data were acquired. Changes of size, and position of impacted canine in 3D CBCT image before and after therapy were prepared using 3D reconstruction. Volumetric measurements of the maxillary sinuses were performed before and after orthodontic therapy of impacted canines, using InVivo6 software. The main effects MANOVA performed on linear measurements showed metric differences between pre-op and post-op images. A paired t-test showed no statistically significant differences between pre-op and post-op values of the sinus volume. Changes of size and position of impacted canine in 3D image before and after therapy were precise and reproducible, using 3D reconstruction in three planes - horizontal, midsagittal, and coronal. The linear measurements showed metric differences between pre-op and post-op images.