Mandibular bone remodelling in adults: evaluation of panoramic radiographs

Objectives: To evaluate the changes in the antegonial angle, antegonial depth and gonial angle in edentulous and dentate patients in different age groups and between genders. Methods: We evaluated 312 panoramic radiographs selected from our files. The images were grouped into four 10-year age groups (by decades). The youngest age group was 40-49 years and the oldest 70-79 years. Gender, dentition status and age were recorded. Measurements were made by two observers. Results: No significant differences were observed for the gonial angle regarding age, gender and edentulism. For antegonial angle, the males (160.86degrees +/- 0.78) had significantly smaller values than females (165.08degrees +/- 0.58) irrespective of the dental status (P < 0.0001). Edentulous individuals (161.51degrees +/- 0.83) had a smaller antegonial angle than dentate (165.05degrees +/- 0.76) and partially dentate (163.81degrees +/- 0.81) individuals (P < 0.05). The antegonial depth was significantly greater for males than females (2.12 mm +/- 0.09 vs 1.46 mm +/- 0.07, P < 0.0001). Edentulous individuals (1.87 mm +/- 0.1) had significantly greater antegonial depth than dentate and partially dentate individuals (1.60 mm +/- 0.1 and 1.65 mm +/- 0.1, respectively). Conclusion: The gonial angle did not show any change with gender, age and dental status whereas the antegonial region had a resorptive pattern in the edentulous mandible. The morphology of the antegonial region was influenced by gender and dental status.