A study on sagittal root position of maxillary anterior teeth in Korean

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#The purpose of this study was to analyze the sagittal root position of maxillary anterior teeth and report the frequency of each classification in Korean for immediate implant placement. @*Materials and Methods@#A retrospective review of cone-beam computed tomography (cone-beam CT) images was conducted on 120 patients (60 male and 60 female) who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. After reorientation of the axis, cone-beam CT images were evaluated and the relationship of the sagittal root position (SRP) of the maxillary anterior teeth to its associated osseous housing was recorded. Class I, II, and III were classified respectively when the root was positioned on the labial, central, and palatal aspect of the alveolar bone. Class IV was the position that at least two thirds of the root is engaging both the labial and palatal cortical plates. Then, the angulation of the root axis and the alveolar bone axis was measured. Descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare the angulation according to the root position and SRP class. @*Results@#The frequency distribution of sagittal root position of maxillary anterior teeth indicated that 81.1%, 10.3%, 1.9%, and 6.7% were classified as Class I, II, III, and IV, respectively. The sagittal angulation at approximately 77.5% of central incisor, lateral incisor, and canine was < 20 degrees, but the angle at more than 42.7% of canine was ≥ 20 degrees. Within the class, the angulation was statistically significantly greater in Class I (16.19) compared to Class II (8.72) and Class III (9.93), and smaller in Class IV (3.79). @*Conclusion@#Within the limitation of this study, a majority of the maxillary anterior roots were positioned close to the buccal cortical plate. However, some roots have very thin alveolar bone and sagittal angulation larger than 30 degrees. Therefore, cone-beam CT analyses of the sagittal root position and the sagittal angulation are recommended for the selection of the appropriate dental implant treatment approach.