RELATION BETWEEN SAGITTAL POSITION OF THE MANDIBLE AND PHARYNGEAL AIRWAY VOLUME IN ADULTS USING CONE BEAM COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY

Introduction: Many authors have discussed the relationship between craniofacial morphology and pharyngeal airway spaces in different malocclusions and skeletal patterns. So the aim of this work was to study the relation between sagittal position of the mandible and pharyngeal airway volume in adults using CBCT. Materials And Methods:Twentyone CBCT radiographs were collected from the archive of Radiology Department at Suez Canal University and were divided into 3 groups according to the measured SNB angle. Group 1 normal mandibular position, group 2 retrognathic mandible and group 3 prognathic mandible. Dolphin 3D imaging software was used to measure the airway volume for all the radiographs. Nasopharyngeal, oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal and total pharyngeal airway volumes were measured for all the radiographs. F-test (ANOVA) was used for comparison between groups and Tukey test for pairwise comparisons. Correlations between variables were tested using PearsonÂ's correlation coefficient. Results: there was statistically significant difference in the mean total pharyngeal airway volume and oropharyngeal airway volumes between the three groups. Nasopharyngeal airway volume and hypopharyngeal airway volume had non-significant difference between groups. There was a significant positive correlation between total pharyngeal airway volume (mm3) and SNB angle. Conclusion: Pharyngeal airway volume differs with different sagittal positions of the mandible. Pharyngeal airway volume decreases with mandibular retrognathism and increases with mandibular prognathism.