Relationship Between Zygomaticomaxillary Sutures and Maxillofacial Morphology in a Three-Dimensional Plane

抄録

　　The objective of the present study was to identify the zygomaticomaxillary suture (ZMS) in a three-dimensional plane using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and elucidate the relationships between maxillofacial size / morphology and plane directions. This study included 90 Japanese adult women, with a mean age of 27.07 ± 8.70 years. CBCT was used to identify the ZMS in a three-dimensional plane, represented by three points on the ZMS and defined mathematically by the three-dimensional coordinates of these points. The plane directions were evaluated based on the angles between the right and left ZMS planes and between the Frankfort horizontal plane and ZMS planes. In addition, several maxillofacial angles and distances were measured using CBCT, and the distance ratios were calculated. The correlations between the ZMS angles and maxillofacial measurements and distance ratios were evaluated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The angle between the right and left ZMS planes weakly correlated with zygomatic arch width ( r=-0.21). In addition, the ratio between the maxillary vertical distance and width and that between the maxillary vertical distance and anteroposterior distance also weakly correlated with the angle between the right and left ZMS planes ( r=0.24～0.25). The ZMS plane directions may correlate with maxillofacial morphology.