Incidence of morphological variants of mandibular lingula.

The ligual of mandible is a tongue shaped bony projection on the medical surface of the ramus close to the posterior margin of the mandibular foramen. Since the inferior alveolar nerve enters the mandibular foramen to supply the strctures of the lower jaw, the relationship of lingula to the inferior alveolar nerve is of clinical significance to dental surgeons. It becomes a necessety to know the morphology of linguls so as to preserve the important structures during surgical interference of mandible around the lingula region. The present study was undertaken mainly to establish the frequency of various morphological types of lingula in adult human mandibles of South Indian background. The material for this study comprised of a collection of 147 (294 sides) dry adult human mandibles. In each mandible, the lingula was scored using the classification proposed by Tuli et al (2000). More frequently observed bilaterally were the Truncated and Nodular types. These two types occurred more frequently unilaterally as well. The assimilated type, whether unilateral or bilateral was more or lesws similar in frequency along with other non metric variants of the skull, morphological types of lingula can also be useful as anthropological marker to assess population and recial distances.

Occurrence of torus palatinus and mandibularis among women of different ethnic groups.

PURPOSE: To detect the presence of tori in women of different ethnic groups residing in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., USA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 448 females between the ages of 18-88 years participated in the study. There were 302 African Americans, 62 Caucasians, 43 Hispanics, 36 Asians, and 5 Native Americans. RESULTS: Tori were detected in 107 African Americans (35.4%), 20 Caucasians (32.3%), 13 Hispanics (30.2%), 14 Asians (38.9%), and 1 of the 5 Native American (20%), (P = 0.328). Torus palatinus were found in 69.7% of women from all ethnic groups (P = 0.107). Slightly higher percentage was seen in the Hispanics, then the African Americans, with the least in the Caucasians. Torus mandibularis were found only in 38.7% of all subjects (P< 0.05), were more common among Caucasians, and were usually bilateral. The presence of both tori was only detected in 8.4% of the participants. There was no relationship between age and the presence of torus mandibularis (r = 0.074) or palatinus (r = 0.008).

Tori mandibularis: a case report and review of the literature.

Many dentists have patients in their practice with mandibular exostoses, termed torus mandibularis. The majority of these asymptomatic, benign bony outgrowths remain undisturbed over the patient's lifetime. However, the tori occasionally need to be removed. The differential diagnosis for the tori are discussed as well as the indications and techniques for their removal. Various hypotheses concerning the etiology and epidemiology of torus mandibularis are also reviewed.

Torus palatinus and torus mandibularis: a review of the literature.

The torus has been mentioned in the literature for about 180 years. However, little has been revealed about it until the last two decades when great advances were made in the field of genetics. Its occurrence in various ethnic groups ranges from 9 to 66 per cent. Even between similar ethnic groups living in different environments, different figures have been reported. It has been statistically proven that differences do occur between various ethnic groups and the sexes. In current thinking, the occurrence of tori is considered to be an interplay of genetic and environmental factors. The quasi-continuous genetic or threshold model seems to hold the answers to their formation. This theory proposes that the environmental factors responsible must first reach a threshold level before the genetic factors can express themselves in the individual. Hence, both genetic and environmental factors determine liability, making the system multifactorial.

Frequency and distribution of palatal osseous alveolar marginal exostoses--POAMES.

1,272 human skulls were examined for frequency and distribution of POAMES--palatal osseous alveolar marginal exostoses. The sample consisted of Blacks, Mixed, Whites and Chinese as well as adult edentulous and dentate child skulls. POAMES were most prevalent between 35 and 45 years of age, appeared most commonly in the maxillary third molar region, followed by the second and first molar region, occurred most frequently bilateraly and were least prevalent in Blacks. The overall prevalence of POAMES was 14.5 per cent with a female to male ratio of 1:3,5. Ridge POAMES occurred most frequently, followed by combined, ledge and the nodular exostose types. It did not occur in children or edentulous adults.