Harmonic analysis of mandibular form and symmetry with computerized tomographic views.
OBJECTIVE
To quantitatively describe the isotropic (ie, orientation independent) morphologic characteristics of a standardized computed tomographic image of the mandible with the use of the elliptic Fourier series.


METHODS
Spiral CT scans parallel to the mandibular plane and enclosing both mental foramina were obtained in 17 adults (9 edentulous women, mean age, 75 years; 4 edentulous men, mean age, 68 years; and 4 dentate men, mean age, 30 years). The mandibular outline was traced, digitized, and mathematically reconstructed with the elliptic Fourier series. Mandibular area, shape, and individual symmetry were quantified.


RESULTS
Mandibular area and symmetry were larger in men than in women (P <.05). In men, no effect of edentulousness was observed in either area or symmetry. Mandibular shape seemed to be influenced neither by sex nor by the presence of teeth.


CONCLUSIONS
Mandibular size and symmetry in the analyzed computed tomographic scan (which included only the mandibular basal bone) seemed to be sex related but independent of the dental status. Mandibular shape did not seem to be modified by sex or edentulousness. Different findings may be obtained in the analysis of a section of the alveolar bone.
Ferrario
V F
VF
Laboratorio di Anatomia Funzionale dell'Apparato Stomatognatico, Functional Anatomy Research Center, Università degli Study di Milano, Italy.
Sforza
C
C
Tartaglia
G M
GM
Fugazzola
P
P
Serrao
G
G
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*