Cortical bone thickness in dentate and edentulous human cadavers

Background: A critical component of treatment planning in dental implant therapy is the amount of available bone. Thick cortical plates have been the primary way to achieve primary implant stability. However, information about cortical bone thickness in various regions of the maxilla and mandible is largely missing. Hence, it was the purpose of this cadaver study to determine an average cortical bone thickness in different tooth locations. Methods: To determine the average thickness of buccal and lingual plates, 28 cadaver heads (68% male and 32% female) with an average age of 73.1 years were measured at various locations correlating to molar (M), premolar (PM), and anterior (A) regions. Edentulous and dentate regions also were recorded. Results: Average buccal cortical thicknesses were 1.69 mm (M), 1.43 mm (PM), and 1.04 mm (A) in the edentulous maxilla; 2.06 mm (M), 1.78 mm (PM), and 1.36 mm (A) in the edentulous mandible; 2.23 mm (M), 1.62 mm (PM), and 1.59 mm (A) in the dentate maxilla; and 1.98 mm (M), 1.20 mm (PM), and 0.99 mm (A) in the dentate mandible. Average lingual cortical thicknesses were 2.06 mm (M), 1.60 mm (PM), and 1.36 mm (A) in the edentulous maxilla; 2.39 mm (M), 1.88 mm (PM), and 1.66 mm (A) in the edentulous mandible; 2.35 mm (M), 2.0 mm (PM), and 1.95 mm (A) in the dentate maxilla; and 2.51 mm (M), 1.92 mm (PM), and 1.24 mm (A) in the dentate mandible. Conclusions: The average cortical thickness of the buccal plates ranged from 1.0 to 2.1 mm in the edentulous maxilla and mandible, with the thinnest area in the anterior maxilla and the thickest area in the posterior mandible. The buccal plate of the dentate maxilla and mandible ranged from 1.6 to 2.2 mm in thickness, with the thinnest area in the lower anterior region and the thickest area in the upper posterior region.