Root position of maxillary molar with maxillary sinus - a retrospective cbct study

Background and Aim: Present retrospective study was performed to evaluate and investigate the relationship between the roots of the maxillary first molar and the maxillary sinus using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), to measure the distances between the roots of the maxillary molars and the sinus floor as well as the thickness of the bone between the root and the alveolar cortical plate and to determine the correlation of these variability with different age groups and gender.
Materials and Methods: The study included 40 subjects aged between 14 and 77 years who were further divided into the following 2 group’s i.e. <40 years, >40 years. Out of 40 subjects 20 were male and 20 were females. CBCT was performed using a standard exposure and patient positioning protocol. The data of the CBCT images were sliced in three dimensions. Image planes on the three axis axial, coronal and sagittal were sequentially analyze and the correlation of age and gender with all the variables was evaluated.
Results: The present retrospective study showed both gender wise and age wise significant differences in the distance of root of first molar and cortical bone thickness in coronal section. The mean value gender wise for mesiobuccal root of maxillary first molar with floor of maxillary sinus, for females was 3.080mm (±2.4107) and for males was 1.449mm(±2.6452) which showed significant result(p value 0.049). Distobuccal root of maxillary first molar with floor of maxillary sinus in AGE GROUP 1 was 0.784mm(±1.9326) and for GROUP 2, 3.042mm(±2.3215) respectively which showed significant result (p value 0.003). Bone thickness of buccal cortical plate for females was 1.295mm(±0.5053) and for male 2.532mm(±1.2083) which showed highly significant result( p value 0.000). When compared age group (<40yrs & > 40yrs) with gender then thickness of buccal cortical plate below 40yrs i.e. group 1 showed highly significant result having p value 0.000.
Conclusion: The present retrospective study highlights the importance of anatomy and morphology of maxillary first molar with maxillary sinus and cortical bone thickness to determine the age and gender of the individual.