Is Mandibular Cortical Bone and Trabecular Microarchitecture Altered by Masseter Botox Treatment? A Quantitative...

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Radiology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Bruxism causes muscle hypertrophy and mandibular bone changes.
• Botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) treats muscle hyperactivity but skeletal effects need assessment.
• Fractal dimension (FD) can quantify bone structure changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively assess BTX-A's impact on mandibular trabecular bone structure.
• To evaluate changes in fractal dimension (FD) in bruxism patients post-BTX-A treatment.
• To compare FD values in treated patients with non-bruxism controls.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective matched-pair study of 42 bruxism patients and 32 controls.
• Panoramic radiographs analyzed pre- and 6-months post-BTX-A treatment.
• FD calculated in condylar neck, ramus, and angulus regions.

Main Results:

• Significant FD reduction in the angulus region post-BTX-A (p < 0.001).
• No significant difference in postoperative FD between BTX-A group and controls (p > 0.05).
• FD changes were region-specific.

Conclusions:

• BTX-A treatment causes measurable, region-specific reductions in mandibular bone FD.
• Post-treatment bone structure approaches that of controls, indicating potential normalization.
• Fractal analysis is useful for monitoring bone adaptation to neuromuscular interventions.