title: The bite force and craniofacial morphology in patients with acromegaly: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Acromegaly is a metabolic disorder caused by increased growth hormone secretion. As a consequence of acromegaly some typical craniofacial morphology changes appear. This pilot study was conducted to compare the bite force and the characteristic size and shape of the craniofacial components of acromegalic patients with the healthy Turkish individuals. In addition, the correlations between bite force and craniofacial morphology of patients with acromegaly and control individuals were evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  The maximum bite force of the participants was recorded with strain-gage transducer. Lateral x-ray scans were made under standard conditions, in centric occlusion. On cephalograms, the linear and angular measurements was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with acromegaly showed increased anterior and posterior total face height, ramus length, width of frontal sinuses, gonial angle and a negative difference between maxillary and mandibular protrusions. In addition, females with acromegaly showed larger lower anterior face height and sella turcica, decreased facial angle, increased mandibular plane angle. The cephalometric measurements, except one did not showed correlation with the bite force in acromegalic patients. In control group, significant correlations were observed between anterior total face height and anterior lower face height, mandibular plane angle and gonial angle.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The greater changes were observed in the mandible. The maximum bite force of patients with acromegaly showed no difference from healthy individuals. The non-significant difference of bite force between healthy participants and acromegalic patients provide important information for dental treatment and prosthetic rehabilitation of acromegalic patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey 06510, dtduygukc@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Duygu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Karakis
authors.forename: Banu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aktas-Yilmaz
authors.forename: Arife
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dogan
authors.forename: Ilhan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yetkin
authors.forename: Bulent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bek
mesh_terms: D000172:Acromegaly / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001732:Bite Force; D002508:Cephalometry; D019465:Craniofacial Abnormalities / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects