Prevalence of torus palatinus and torus mandibularis in the Split-Dalmatian County, Croatia.

Torus palatinus (TP) and torus mandibularis (TM) are non-pathological outgrowths of unclear etiology that develop from the jaw bone. The purpose of the present study was to report on the prevalence, shape and location of TP and TM in the population of the Central Dalmatian region, Croatia. The study comprised of 1679 subjects, 985 females and 694 males, age range from 9 to 99 years who were examined by clinical examination and analysis of the plaster casts. Torus palatinus was found in 42.9% subjects and torus mandibularis in 12.6% of the subjects. Spindle-shaped torus palatinus was the most frequent type (45.6%). The most frequent type of torus mandibularis was bilateral solitary torus mandibularis (35.4%). Furthermore, torus palatinus was found in 40.1% of the total number of females and in 46.8% of the total number of males, indicating a significantly higher prevalence in the male population (p = 0.006). Torus mandibularis was found in 11.3% of the female population and in 14.6% of the male population, again indicating significantly higher prevalence in the male population (p = 0.046). The results of this study show significantly higher prevalence of torus palatinus and torus mandibularis in the male subjects. Furthermore, no differences in the prevalence of either TM or TP regarding age were found.