Skull thickness in skeletal deep bite: A predictive model for orthodontic treatment planning

TL;DR

This study identifies parietal skull thickness as a useful predictor for skeletal deep bite, aiding orthodontic treatment planning.

Contribution

The study introduces a predictive model using parietal bone thickness for diagnosing skeletal deep bite.

Findings

Deep bite patients had significantly greater parietal bone thickness than controls.

Parietal thickness was the most reliable predictor of skeletal deep bite with R2 = 0.61.

Females showed higher parietal bone thickness values compared to males.

Abstract

Skull thickness plays a significant role in orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning, particularly in skeletal malocclusions
such as deep bite. In this retrospective cohort study, lateral cephalograms of 68 skeletal deep bite patients and 34 controls were
assessed to measure frontal, parietal and occipital bone thickness and regression analysis was applied to establish predictive
markers. Deep bite patients exhibited significantly greater parietal bone thickness than controls (p <0.05), with females showing
higher parietal values and regression modeling identified parietal thickness as the most reliable predictor of skeletal deep bite
(R2 = 0.61, p <0.01). These findings highlight that cranial bone thickness, particularly in the parietal region, may serve
as a clinically useful predictor of skeletal deep bite and assist in orthodontic and surgical treatment planning.