Comparing condylar height/width in patients with and without posterior crossbites.

Background: The purpose of this research was to determine the presence of asymmetry of the mandibular condyle in children aged between 7 and 9 years, with a unilateral posterior crossbite, and compare it with a sample of patients without malocclusion.

Material and methods: The right and left condylar height and width of 401 orthopantomography of children with and without crossbite were measured.

Results: When comparing the height and width of the mandibular condyle in the sample with posterior crossbite we observed that the height and width were almost the same in both condyles. When studying the condylar height in the sample without posterior crossbite, we did not observe differences between both condyles.

Conclusions: The mean condylar height and width in patients with posterior crossbite were higher than that of children without posterior crossbite. This difference was maintained when analyzing the results according to gender and age. Key words:Mandibular condyle, crossbite, orthopantomography, paediatric dentistry, Habets method.