ALVEOLAR AND SKELETAL DIMENSIONS ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER FACE HEIGHT

In this study, the relationships between the lower face height and the structure of the frontal alveolar and basal bone were investigated. T he areas and the dimensions of the anterior alveolar and basal midsagi ttal cross-sectional bone from the maxilla and the mandible were recor ded on lateral cephalograms from 460 untreated adults. An index was ca lculated dividing the sagittal by the vertical dimension of the midsag ittal cross-sectional area. The subjects with a normal overbite betwee n 0.5 and 4 mm (N = 165) were divided into three groups according to t he lower face height. A larger lower face height coincided with a larg er maxillary alveolar and basal area and with a smaller mandibular alv eolar index. Correlations between the lower face height and the maxill ary alveolar index and the mandibular alveolar and basal area were low . It is concluded that long-faced subjects have a large mandibular alv eolar height, which is more associated with a narrowed shape than with a large volume of the symphysis.