Anterior palatal bone thickness: A retrospective cross-sectional cone-beam computed tomography pilot study in...

Previous studies assessed the palatal bone thickness in adult patients or cadavers to identify ideal insertion sites for orthodontic mini-implants. These findings might not be transferable to children and adolescent patients, whose jawbones are still growing. This retrospective cross-sectional pilot study aimed to assess the median and paramedian palatal bone thickness in growing patients using cone-beam computed tomography.

Cone-beam computed tomography scans from 20 patients, aged 6-18 years, were included, and a grid of 13 × 8 measurement points was defined. At each reference point, the bone thickness was assessed orthogonally to the occlusion plane.

In the sagittal direction, bone thickness decreased from the anterior to posterior positions (P <0.001). In the transversal direction, a V-shaped pattern of bone thickness was observed, with significantly lower values at the suture and increasing values at the paramedian aspects (P <0.001). Older patients (13-18 years) showed higher bone thickness values in the more posterior regions (P <0.001), whereas male patients exhibited greater bone thickness values both anteriorly and posteriorly (P <0.001).

Within the limitations of the present pilot study, including only 20 3D radiographs, paramedian insertion at the connection line of the first premolars showed comparatively greater bone thickness in this pilot sample. Further research is warranted to better understand how palatal bone thickness matures in relation to sex and age during the growth period.