Assessment of the changes in the dimensions of the soft palate following orthognathic surgery in class three patients

Statement of Problem: Adaptation of the soft palate and its morphological alterations do occur to some extent after different surgical strategies of class III patients including mandibular setback, maxillary advancement and bimaxillary surgery. The precise changes in soft palate morphology are not well understood yet

Purpose: The aim of this study was to conduct a detailed cephalometric evaluation of the alterations taking place in position and morphology of the soft palate after treatment of class III skeletal deformity via different surgical procedures [i.e. mandibular setback, maxillary advancement, bimaxillary surgery]

Materials and Method: 120 consecutive patients who were diagnosed as having skeletal class III deformity were evaluated. All patients included in this study were adults who had completed their growth and had cephalograms within a month prior to operation [T1] and 1 month to 9 months post-surgery [T2] taken in the natural head position. Patients were divided according to the type of surgery undertaken in three groups: group 1 combination of mandibular and maxillary [bimaxillary], group 2 [mandibular setback] and group 3 [maxillary advancement] surgery. Soft palate length, depth and thickness were evaluated at both T1 and T2 in each group. The results were compared by paired t and oneway ANOVA tests

Results: Soft palate length increased significantly in groups I and III [p <0.05]. Soft palate depth changed significantly in group II [p <0.05]. Soft palate thickness did not changed in any groups [p >0.05]

Conclusion: Soft palate morphology was changed after class III surgeries. Palatal length was increased after maxillary advancement or bimaxillary surgery whereas its depth was increased after mandibular setback or bimaxillary surgery

[Comparative evaluation of measurement accuracy of dental cast space analysis using conventional two-dimensional by Dolphin software and three-dimensional methods]

Recent technologic advances allow models to be digitized, measured with software tools, stored electronically and retrieved with a computer. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the validity of computerized 2-D dolphin, 3-D laser scanning and manual methods of dental cast analysis. Twenty setups, simulating various types of malocclusions with different degrees of rotational and inclination of teeth, variety of spacing condition and curve of spee depths, were constructed. The values of tooth size were calculated from isolated artificial teeth out of setups [gold standard].These setups were duplicated using alginate, resulting in 20 corresponding dental stone models. Models were analyzed with digital calipers manually. The digital images were scanned and were analyzed with the Dolphin software. The analyses included mesiodistal dimension of isolated teeth and the measurement of Bolton scale. The results of the two mentioned methods were compared with the results of another study on these models by the means of three dimension scanning with gold standard. Inter Class Correlation were used to evaluate significance of differences. The difference of the varying methods were obtained through the Dolhberg formula. Results showed that there is the highest correlation between gold standard and manual methods, then between the gold standard and the two dimension methods, and finally, between gold standard and 3-D scanning. Statistically, methods had significant differences [P<0.05], which is clinicaly acceptable. In comparison to gold standard, manual method is still the most accurate for cast space analysis, but difference in overall size calculation is only 1.8 mm which seems clinically acceptable

[Pyknodysostosis -A case report with a brief review of the literature]

Pyknodysostosis is a rare sclerosing bone disorder that has an autosomal dominant trait. It is characterized by short stature, brachycephaly, short and stubby fingers, open cranial sutures and fontanel, and diffuse osteosclcrosis, where multiple fractures of long bones and osteomyelitis of the au arc frequent complications. A case is presented which has the characteristic oral and radiological findings that are connsistent with this syndrome, along with a brief review of the literature. As oral manifestations and appearance characteristics seen in this disorder arc reliable signs for its further examinations, knowing about these signs would be helpful in the diagnosis as well as the improvement of its prognosis. Accordingly, by knowing the oral symptoms and appearance characterstics of the disease, dentist could be the very first person who would look for the necessary examinations led to the diagnosis of the disease