Frequency of radiopaque turbinate bones on lateral cephalometric radiographs

The lateral cephalometric radiograph of an orthodontic patient demonstrated a large round radiopaque mass resembling an osteoma in the posterior maxillary sinus. Determination that this mass was simply a prominent inferior turbinate bone prompted this study to determine the frequency of visible turbinates on cephalometric radiographs. After calibration, one observer evaluated 479 pretreatment lateral cephalometric radiographs from an orthodontic/orthognathic surgery patient pool for radiopaque inferior turbinates. Ten percent of the films were reevaluated to assess intraexaminer reliability. The sample had a mean age of 23 years, range of 5 to 69 years, with a male/female ratio of 1:15. Visible inferior turbinates were observed on 76.8% of the radiographs. The frequency of visible turbinates was independent of gender, age, and film density. Clinicians should be aware of the frequency of this anatomic finding, so that patients are not subjected to unnecessary diagnostic tests.