Correlation between buccal and alveolar bone widths at the central incisors according to cone-beam-computed tomography

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess whether there is a correlation between buccal bone thickness and mean alveolar bone thickness around the central teeth using CBCT images. Materials and Methods: Three points were selected at 3, 6 and 9 mm from the cemento-enamel junction, respectively, perpendicular to the long axis of the measuring points made to determine the width of the alveolar bone ridge. The arithmetic mean of the length measurements was taken as the average alveolar bone thickness. To determine the average buccal alveolar bone thickness, the buccal bone length was measured perpendicular to the long axis of the tooth from these 3 points, and the average of the measurements was taken from these 3 points. Results: The mean coronal, mid-root, and apical third root widths of the maxillary, left central incisors were 7.72±0.60, 8.64 ± 0.93, and 9.23±1.45 mm, respectively and the mean widths of the buccal alveolar bone at the coronal, mid-root, and apical third root positions of the left central incisor were 1.18±0.39, 1.15±0.44, and 1.06±0.50 mm, respectively. The Spearman correlation coefficients were 0.194 and 0.191 for the left and right central incisors, respectively. Conclusions: There was no statistically significant difference between the alveolar bone thickness averages of the left and right central incisors, but the alveolar bone thickness was found to be thicker in males than females. Although the mean of alveolar and buccal bone thicknesses was positively correlated the statistical analysis demonstrated the correlation between the mean of alveolar and buccal bone thicknesses is not significant.