Nhu, N T Dinh
| Nhu, N T Dinh |
Nhu N T Dinh
Adeyinka Dayo
Division of Radiology,Oral Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine
Introduction
The purpose of facial rejuvenation procedures is to correct the changes resulting from the aging process. The conventional methods of facial rejuvenation like injectable fillers and fat grafting focus on restoring soft tissue, while the effect of facial skeletal changes is often overlooked. By building the areas of bone loss, plastic surgeons indirectly restore the projection and promote reposition of soft tissue. As a result, there has been a surge in the popularity of procedures that augment resorbed areas with materials like hydroxyapatite. The objective of this research study is to determine whether there is a difference in the process of aging of the mandible across races.
Methods
A retrospective chart review involving 100 randomly selected patients from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, who had a large volume CBCT imaging of the mandible on file. Patients 21 years old and above will be included, as this is the age where the facial skeleton reaches maturity. Exclusion criteria include edentulism, bony surgical intervention, radiation therapy, history of craniofacial trauma, orthodontic treatments, and congenital anomalies such as Paget’s disease, fibrous dysplasia, hyperparathyroidism, cleft palate. Participants were divided into 3 age groups: 21 to 40 years old, 41 to 65 years old, and 66 and above. Using Anatomage 3D viewer software, six measurements on the mandible were recorded from the participant’s CBCT: bigonial width, mandibular body height, mandibular body length, ramus breadth, ramus height, and mandibular angle.
Results
Pending. Statistical analysis will be performed to evaluate the relationship between age and race to see if there are any differences in the rate of mandibular resorption between races and whether the difference will be of statistical significance.
Conclusion
Our study shows that there are statistically differences in the resorption rate of the mandible across race. These differences have critical implications on the outcome of facial rejuvenation treatments and should be taken into consideration when performing facial rejuvenation for patients.