Anatomical modifications of the mid palatal suture during ageing: a radiographic study.

In transverse maxillary deficiencies it is important to know if the mid palatal suture is obliterated or not, to decide which treatment to perform (orthodontic expansion or surgical disjunction of the suture). The maxillary sutures obliteration has been used in forensic medicine in estimating adult age at death. In order to determine the proportion of mid palatal suture obliteration in the elderly in man, we examined 100 consecutive CT scans of the palate. This study has shown that the age of mid palatal total obliteration was variable. The obliteration begins in the anterior and in the superior part of the palate. The inferior part of the junction between the palatal processes is the last part of the suture to be obliterated.