title: Cone-beam evaluation of pharyngeal airway space in class I, II, and III patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to make a 3-dimensional (3-D) evaluation of the pharyngeal airway space (PAS) in patients with class I, II, and III malocclusion.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty patients were evaluated. The patients were divided in 3 groups according to their occlusion classification. The volume and area of PAS were evaluated using the software Dolphin 3-D Imaging in the preoperative period for orthognathic surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PAS volume and area were influenced by different patterns of malocclusion. The mean volume and area for class III patients were statistically bigger than for classes I and II patients (P < .001). There was also a significant difference for volume values between class I and II patients, being the bigger volume for the class I patients (P < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was possible to conclude that the class III patients presented a bigger PAS compared with classes I and II patients.
authors.affiliation: Dental School of Araraquara (Unesp), Department of Diagnosis and Oral Surgery, Araraquara, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castro-Silva
authors.affiliation: Dental School of Araraquara (Unesp), Department of Diagnosis and Oral Surgery, Araraquara, Brazil. Electronic address: Monnazzi@ig.com.br.
authors.forename: Marcelo Silva
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Monnazzi
authors.affiliation: Dental School of Araraquara (Unesp), Department of Diagnosis and Oral Surgery, Araraquara, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rubens
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Spin-Neto
authors.affiliation: Dental School of Araraquara (Unesp), Department of Diagnosis and Oral Surgery, Araraquara, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moraes
authors.affiliation: Dental School of Araraquara (Unesp), Department of Diagnosis and Oral Surgery, Araraquara, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.affiliation: Dental School of Araraquara (Unesp), Department of Diagnosis and Oral Surgery, Araraquara, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mario Francisco
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Real Gabrielli
authors.affiliation: Dental School of Araraquara (Unesp), Department of Diagnosis and Oral Surgery, Araraquara, Brazil.
authors.forename: Valfrido Antonio
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Pereira-Filho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010614:Pharynx / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software