title: Anatomical topography of the mandibular symphysis in the Korean population: a computed tomography analysis.
abstract: The objective of this study was to reveal the topography of the mandibular symphysis according to gender and age in the Korean population using computed tomography (CT) to provide a mean anatomical database for the safety zone during block bone harvesting. The following parameters were measured in CT images taken from Korean subjects: interforaminal distance (ID), vertical distance between the inferior mandibular border and the apices of the anterior teeth (VD), and horizontal distance between the labial cortical bone and the apices of the anterior teeth (HD). Differences between genders and among age groups, and the correlations among measurements were analyzed. A total of 973 images (411 males and 562 females; mean age = 41.2 years) were selected. The overall mean ID, VD, and HD were 55.38 ± 5.13, 22.16 ± 3.84 and 5.21 ± 1.70 mm, respectively. The ID and VD were significantly larger in males than in females (P < 0.001), and ID was significantly smaller in the youngest age group than in other age groups (P < 0.001), while HD differed significantly only between the youngest and oldest groups (P < 0.05). There was a weak positive correlation between ID and HD (γ > 0.10). This study provides information on the topography of the mandibular symphysis in the Korean population based on a large number of CT images. In general, gender seemed to influence the symphyseal dimensions strongly, whereas the influence of age was limited.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Research Institute for Periodontal Regeneration, College of Dentistry, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Kyu An
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Min-Soo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ji-Youn
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Jung-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seong-Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jung-Kiu
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: Ui-Won
authors.initials: UW
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D063405:Anatomic Variation; D044466:Asian People; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D056910:Republic of Korea; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: anatomy; chin; computed tomography; mandible; risk assessment