A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Dentistry
Johannesburg, 2015 / Background: The purpose of this study was to determine and evaluate the prevalence, distribution and characteristics of dehiscences and fenestrations in skulls of a South African population and to discover if there is a link between their presence and specific characteristics.
Methods and materials: A sample of 333 skulls with both jaws and a partial or complete dentition whose sex, age and ethnicity was known, were obtained from the Raymond A. Dart Collection of Human skeletons in the School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, dating from 1980 to 2014. The size and distribution of these defects was measured. Fenestrations were further classified according to their location. The position of the affected teeth in the arch and the size of these teeth in relation to the width of the jaw were also recorded.
Results: A total of 770 alveolar defects were recorded. Of those, 579 were fenestrations 63.2% in the maxilla; 36.7% in the mandible and 191 dehiscences 72.8% in the mandible and 27.2% in the maxilla. The total number of defects in the maxilla (418) exceeded that of the mandible (352). In the maxilla, the teeth most commonly associated with both dehiscences and fenestrations were the first molars (39.2%) and canines (29.9%). In the mandible, the canines (34.9%) and the first premolars (28.8%) were the most commonly affected teeth. There was a higher proportion of fenestrations as opposed to dehiscences present in all teeth except the canines where dehiscences predominated.
Conclusion: Gender, age and population had no influence on the defects observed in the samples. The number of teeth was the only factor significantly associated with the presence or absence of one or more alveolar defects.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/19967 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Koutras, Sandra |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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