FREQUENCY OF RADIOPAQUE TURBINATE BONES ON LATERAL CEPHALOMETRIC RADIOGRAPHS

The lateral cephalometric radiograph of an orthodontic patient demonst rated a large round radiopaque mass resembling an osteoma in the poste rior maxillary sinus, Determination that this mass was simply a promin ent inferior turbinate bone prompted this study to determine the frequ ency of visible turbinates on cephalometric radiographs. After calibra tion, one observer evaluated 479 pretreatment lateral cephalometric ra diographs from an orthodontic/orthognathic surgery patient pool for ra diopaque inferior turbinates. Ten percent of the films were reevaluate d to assess intraexaminer reliability. The sample had a mean age of 23 years, range of 5 to 69 years, with a male/female ratio of 1:15. Visi ble inferior turbinates were observed on 76.8% of the radiographs. The frequency of visible turbinates was independent of gender, age, and f ilm density. Clinicians should be aware of the frequency of this anato mic finding, so that patients are not subjected to unnecessary diagnos tic tests.