Quantitative assessment of vertical heights of maxillary and mandibular bones in panoramic radiographs of elderly dentate and edentulous subjects.

The clinical applicability of vertical measurements of the mandible and maxilla in panoramic radiographs was studied by assessing the variety of vertical heights among 91 elderly dentate subjects. Measurements in each jaw and calculations of a maxillary ratio were made at five sites. Variations in measurements of the dentate subjects were small: 9-11% for vertical measurements in the mandible, 6-11% for vertical measurements in the maxilla, and 8-10% for the maxillary ratios. These findings suggest that it is possible quantitatively to assess heights of the mandibular and maxillary bones in panoramic radiographs. Reductions in the edentulous jaws were assessed by comparing the heights of jaws of elderly dentate subjects with those measured in 177 elderly edentulous subjects. Significant differences in heights of the mandibular body and maxilla were found between the dentate and the edentulous (P < 0.001). Edentulous women had greater values for percentage reduction in the mandibles than did the men (P < 0.01; P < 0.001 in various locations).