Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Jul 28, 2019; 11(7): 94-101
Published online Jul 28, 2019. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v11.i7.94
Genial tubercles: Morphological study of the controversial anatomical landmark using cone beam computed tomography
Yasser A Araby, Ahmed A Alhirabi, Abdelaleem H Santawy
Yasser A Araby, Department of Prosthetic Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Qassim 51452, Saudi Arabia
Ahmed A Alhirabi, Dental Intern, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Qassim 51452, Saudi Arabia
Abdelaleem H Santawy, Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Qassim 51452, Saudi Arabia
Author contributions: Araby YA, Alhirabi AA and Santawy AH contributed equally to this work; Araby YA conceived and designed research; Alhirabi AA and Santawy AH collected data; Araby YA, Alhirabi AA and Santawy AH analyzed data; Araby YA and Alhirabi AA wrote the paper with the support of Santawy AH.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was reviewed and conducted with approval by the Ethical Committee, Dental Research Center, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia.
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis used anonymous data that were obtained from the Radiology Department Archive, Dental Clinics Center, Qassim University, KSA after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yasser A Araby, BSc, MSc, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Prosthetic Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Burayadh, Qassim 51452, Saudi Arabia. dr.yasser.araby@qudent.org
Telephone: +966-5-30488300 Fax: +966-1-63801761
Received: April 23, 2019
Peer-review started: May 8, 2019
First decision: June 17, 2019
Revised: July 9, 2019
Accepted: July 25, 2019
Article in press: July 25, 2019
Published online: July 28, 2019
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The genial tubercles (GTs) are an important anatomical landmark that is located in the midline of the lingual side of the mandible and is important for multiple clinical and surgical interventions. For years, it was described as four spines arranged in two pairs, one above the other, and few osteological and radiological studies demonstrated the wide variation in its morphology. cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is an effective and simple method to use in the assessment of GTs morphology among different ethnic groups.

Research motivation

To the best of our knowledge, no previous studies have assessed the pattern of GTs using CBCT, and no previous studies have assessed the dimensions and position of the GTs among the Saudi population or any other Arab population using either osteological or radiological methods.

Research objectives

The aim of this study was to assess the pattern, size and position of the GTs using CBCT among a selected Saudi population.

Research methods

We used CBCT images of 155 male and female Saudi subjects who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria for this study. Galileos software was used to assess the GTs pattern and to collect all the linear measurements required to determine its dimensions and position in relation to the menton and the apices of the mandibular central incisors.

Research results

Of the 155 studied subjects, 106 were males, and 49 were females; ages ranged from 17 to 63 years. According to the analysis of the pattern of the GTs , we found that the prevalence of Type III was 36.8%, followed by Type II (22.6%) and Type IV (20%), while the classically described pattern (Type I) was 14.2%. Type V was the least common among the pattern types (6.4%). There was no statistically significant difference between the sexes. Regarding its dimensions and position, we found that the mean GTs height was 6.67 ± 3.04 mm, the mean width was 6.23 ± 1.93 mm, and the average distance from the apices of the mandibular central incisors to its superior border was 8.26 ± 2.7 mm. the average distance between the GTs inferior border and the menton was 8.13 ± 3.07 mm.

Research conclusions

The morphological pattern of the GTs is controversial; the classically described GTs pattern of four elevations, equidistant between the upper and lower edges of the mandible, that are arranged in pairs, is not the most common pattern. The most common pattern among the studied Saudi sample was of two superior GTs and a rough impression below them with no significant difference between the sexes.

Research perspectives

Our results suggest that CBCT might be a simple, valuable and effective tool for conducting an accurate morphological analysis of the GTs among different ethnic groups and resolving the controversy about their morphology.