ALVEOLAR BONE ANATOMIC PROFILES AS MEASURED FROM DRY SKULLS - CLINICAL RAMIFICATIONS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship of alveolar bone morphology to tooth shape and form. 111 dry skulls were evaluate d at Baylor College of Dentistry (Dallas, Texas). The skulls were arbi trarily divided into flat, scalloped and pronounced scalloped anatomic profiles according to alveolar bone anatomy. The number of buccal deh iscences and fenestrations was determined for each skull according to their anatomic morphotype. 10 skulls from each group were selected for bone height measurements. The measurements were made with a periodont al probe and ruler from the height of the interproximal bone to the bu ccal alveolar crest. Kodachrome slides were used to measure mesial-dis tal tooth width and length from ten skulls from each anatomic category . The average number of fenestrations for each group was 3.5. The mean number of dehiscences for flat and scalloped skulls was 0.5. The aver age number of dehiscences for pronounced scalloped was 1.2. There were no significant differences when the groups were compared. The mean di stance from the height of the interdental bone to the alveolar crest w as statistically significant when the groups were compared (flat 2.1 m m, scalloped 2.8 mm, pronounced 4.1mm) (Tukey, p=0.05). There were no significant differences when tooth shapes were compared with bone anat omy. Pronounced scalloped anatomic profiles were slightly narrower whe n compared with the other groups. The observations reported have treat ment ramifications when patients with scalloped or pronounced scallope d morphotypes are being considered for dental implant placement.