Morphometric Study of Height of Condylar Process in Dentate and Edentulous Human Mandible in Gujarat Region

Introduction: The mandible, the largest and strongest bone of the face, serves for the reception of the lower teeth. It consists of a curved, horizontal portion, the body, and two perpendicular portions, the rami, which unite with the ends of the body nearly at right angles1. The articular surface of the mandibular condyle is slightly curved and tilted forward at c.25° to the occlusal plane. Like the articular eminence, its slope is variable. In the coronal plane its shape varies (Osborn & Baranger 1992) from that of a gable (particularly marked in those whose diet is hard), to roughly horizontal in the edentulous.  Precise knowledge of the height of condylar process of the mandible in the temporomandibular joint in dentate and edentulous mandible is very important in maxillofacial operations2. Methodology: The material for the present study consists of 140 adult Mandible of unknown sex. These were collected from Govt. Medical college-Bhavnagar, PDU Medical College, Rajkot and KJ Mehta Dental College, Amargadh, Bhavnagar. Materials used are Vernier calipers of 0.02 mm accuracy, Digital camera and Pencil. The data were statistically analyzed. The condylar height was measured by the distance from the most cranial point of the condylar process to the most caudal point of the mandibular notch. Result: We found average height of condylar process of right sided dentate mandible is 22.07 mm and the height of condylar process of right sided edentulous mandible is 22.02 mm, which is statistically not significant. We found average height of condylar process of left sided dentate mandible is 22.38 mm and the height of condylar process of left sided edentulous mandible is 22.81 mm, which is also statistically not significant. Height of condylar process on both the sides in dentate and edentulous mandibles is not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results of this research showed that the presence or absence of the teeth cannot alter height of condylar process and simplify possibility that mandibular edentulism may not be associated with specific shape changes in the condylar process of mandible. [Jignesh V IJBAA 2017; 1(1):14-16]