Prevalence and extent of Alveolar dehiscence and fenestration in Class I hyperdivergent subjects with different buccolingual inclinations of maxillary molar teeth

Buccolingual position of teeth could affect the prevalence of alveolar bone defects. Presence of alveolar defects may have a deleterious effect on orthodontic treatment. The aim was to assess the prevalence and extent of dehiscence and fenestration in Class I hyperdivergent subjects and correlate it with buccolingual inclinations(BL) of maxillary first molar teeth. Methods: This retrospective study involved 80 CBCTs of class I hyperdivergent subjects divided into two groups - group A (n=33) buccolingual inclination >9º and group B (n=47) buccolingual inclination <9º. Prevalence and extent of alveolar bone dehiscence and fenestrations were measured in CBCTs using OSIRIX Lite software. Descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U test and Spearman correlation were done for evaluating intergroup differences and correlation with Buccolingual inclination. Results: Overall prevalence of dehiscence and fenestration in maxillary first molars was 60.95% and 5% respectively. In the buccal alveolar bone, prevalence of dehiscence was highest in group A (84.6%) for 16 and in the lingual alveolar bone prevalence of dehiscence was highest in group B (71.4%) for 26 . On intergroup comparison, the extent of lingual alveolar bone dehiscence (26) in group B was significantly higher (p value <0.05) than in group A. No significant correlation between the extent of dehiscence and fenestration with buccolingual inclination of molar teeth was noted. Conclusion: Molar teeth with BL inclinations of more than 9º had higher prevalence of dehiscence on the buccal side and molar teeth with BL inclinations less than 9 degrees had more dehiscence on the lingual side. But no significant correlation of BL inclination with prevalence and extent of dehiscence and fenestration was noted.