Evaluation of alveolar cortical bone thickness and density for orthodontic mini-implant placement.

Objective: Mini-implant stability is primarily related to bone quality and quantity. This study evaluated alveolar cortical bone thickness and density differences between interradicular sites at different levels from the alveolar crest, and assessed the differences between adolescents (12-18 years of age) and adults (19-50 years of age), males and females, upper and lower arch, anterior and posterior region of jaws and buccal and oral side. Study Design: In this retrospective study, 48 Computed Tomography scans, performed for oral surgery purposes were selected from dental records of 3,223 Caucasian orthodontic patients. The SimPlant software (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium) was used to measure cortical bone thickness and density at 13 interradicular sites and four bone levels ( 2,4,6 and 8 mm ). For the statistical analysis descriptive statistics, Student's t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used. Results: Statistically significant differences in alveolar cortical bone thickness and density between age, gender, sites and sides were found (P