CBCT imaging of the alveolar bone structure in maxilla of elderly donor cadavers and PCA analysis

Abstract

There is an important bone matrix with remodelling between dentate and edentulous samples of the human maxilla for bone metabolism. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is useful for structural analysis of bone. The objective of this study was to investigate morphological data of donor cadavers in detail using CBCT imaging and principal component analysis (PCA). We analysed 38 donor cadavers using a CBCT apparatus. The analytical results defined differences in skull measurement parameters and dentate and edentulous levels using PCA. We observed cortical bone, trabecular bone, and the distance from the bottom of the maxillary sinus to the oral mucosa at a right angle to the palatal plane of the first molar region between dentate and edentulous samples of the human maxilla using CBCT imaging. In the dentate sample of the maxilla, component 1 was defined by negative contributions from gender (−0.84) and age (−0.54) to positive contributions such as cortical bone structure (CBS, 0.68) and trabecular bone structure (TBS, 0.50). There was a difference in CBS between dentate and edentulous human maxilla samples. This study of CBCT data provides useful basal information for planning dental implant surgery using PCA.