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Published on: April 8, 2020
Morphometric analysis of the greater palatine foramen: a CBCT study in Portugal
Tomás Martins1, Vanessa Guedes2, Eugénio Martins3
1Speciality of Prosthodontics and Occlusion at Faculty of Dentistry, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. tompires@ucm.es.
Purpose:
The greater palatine foramen (GPF) represents the inferior opening of the greater palatine canal and is located posterolaterally on both sides of the hard palate. The aim of this study is to morphometrically characterise the GPF and to determine its anatomical relationships in a Portuguese population.
Methods:
A retrospective study was performed based on the clinical records which included all permanent teeth erupted and a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) of the entire maxilla. The diameters of the GPF and its distances to posterior nasal spine (PNS), posterior border of the hard palate (PBHP), anterior nasal spine (ANS), midline maxillary suture (MMS) and incisive foramen (IF) were measured. Its position in relation to molars and the shape and direction of opening towards the oral cavity were classified. Global descriptive and comparative analysis were conducted.
Results:
N = 100. Metric analysis (mean in millimetres): anteroposterior diameter 5.35, lateromedial diameter 2.24, GPF-PNS 16.26, GPF-PBHP 4.83, GPF-ANS 49.94, GPF-MMS 14.74, GPF-IF 35.18. Position in relation to molars (%): 0% anterior to 2nd molar, 3% opposite 2nd molar, 15% between 2nd and 3rd molars, 77% opposite 3rd molar, 5% distal to 3rd molar. Shape (%): oval 71%, slit 26%, round 1%, other 2%. Metric variables were higher in males than in females (95% CI). There were no differences between genders for categorical variables or between sides for any variable (95% CI).
Conclusion:
The most common shape of the GPF is oval and its most common position is opposite the 3rd molar.
