Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Jul 28, 2019; 11(7): 94-101
Published online Jul 28, 2019. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v11.i7.94
Genial tubercles: Morphological study of the controversial anatomical landmark using cone beam computed tomography
Yasser A Araby, Ahmed A Alhirabi, Abdelaleem H Santawy
Yasser A Araby, Department of Prosthetic Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Qassim 51452, Saudi Arabia
Ahmed A Alhirabi, Dental Intern, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Qassim 51452, Saudi Arabia
Abdelaleem H Santawy, Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Qassim 51452, Saudi Arabia
Author contributions: Araby YA, Alhirabi AA and Santawy AH contributed equally to this work; Araby YA conceived and designed research; Alhirabi AA and Santawy AH collected data; Araby YA, Alhirabi AA and Santawy AH analyzed data; Araby YA and Alhirabi AA wrote the paper with the support of Santawy AH.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was reviewed and conducted with approval by the Ethical Committee, Dental Research Center, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia.
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis used anonymous data that were obtained from the Radiology Department Archive, Dental Clinics Center, Qassim University, KSA after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yasser A Araby, BSc, MSc, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Prosthetic Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Burayadh, Qassim 51452, Saudi Arabia. dr.yasser.araby@qudent.org
Telephone: +966-5-30488300 Fax: +966-1-63801761
Received: April 23, 2019
Peer-review started: May 8, 2019
First decision: June 17, 2019
Revised: July 9, 2019
Accepted: July 25, 2019
Article in press: July 25, 2019
Published online: July 28, 2019
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Identification of the morphology of the genial tubercles (GTs) is valuable for different dental applications. The morphological pattern of the GTs is still controversial, and therefore, the study of its morphology using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) plays a valuable role in resolving the controversy.

AIM

To assess the morphological pattern, dimensions and position of the GTs using CBCT among a selected Saudi population.

METHODS

CBCT records of 155 Saudi subjects (49 female and 106 male) were used to assess the pattern and size of the GTs and to determine the distance from the apices of the lower central incisors to the superior border of the GTs (I-SGT) and the distance from the inferior border of the GTs to the menton (IGT-M).

RESULTS

The results of this study showed that the most common morphological pattern was of two superior GTs and a rough impression below them (36.8%), followed by two superior GTs and a median ridge representing fused inferior GTs below them (22.6%) and a single median eminence or projection (20%). The classically described pattern, of two superior and two inferior GTs placed one above the other, was found in only 14.2% of cases, while 6.4% of the studied cases had no GTs. The mean width and height were 6.23 ± 1.93 mm and 6.67 ± 3.04 mm, respectively, while the mean I-SGT and IGT-M measurements were 8.26 ± 2.7 mm and 8.13 ± 3.07 mm, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The GTs are a controversial anatomical landmark with wide variation in their morphological pattern. The most common pattern among the studied Saudi sample was of two superior GTs and a rough impression below them, and there were no significant differences between males and females.

Keywords: Genial tubercles, Cone beam computed tomography, Morphological analysis, Mandible, Anatomical landmark

Core tip: The morphological pattern of the genial tubercles (GTs) is controversial. Classically, they are described as four elevations equidistant between the upper and lower edges of the mandible that are arranged in pairs and surround the lingual foramina bilaterally; however, several osteological and radiological studies proved that there is wide variation in their morphology. This retrospective study was conducted to determine the morphological pattern, size and position of the GTs using cone beam computed tomography among a selected Saudi population.