ABSTRACT
The knowledge of anatomical variations of the mandibular condyle is significant in the fabrication of condylar prosthesis or reconstruction of the mandible which help to improve success and reduce the incidence of complications. The morphology and morphometry of the mandibular condyles is known to vary with age, gender and ethnicity.
To determine the aims and objectives of the research thesis,a descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (U.B.T.H), Benin-city. Following Ethical Permission by the Institution’s Research and Ethics Committee (I.R.S.E.C), data were collected retro-prospectively. Collected data were age, gender, and ethnicity. Other data were shape, length, width, height, side of the condylar head of the mandible. The Biodata was gotten from the retrieved case-notes while information on morphometry and morphology of the condyles was gotten from surgical human mandibles. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using SPSS version 17.0, 95% confidence interval of effect size was estimated, and a P-Value less than 0.05 was considered significant.
A total of 101 formalin preserved human mandibular condyles were sampled for the study. The mean age ± SD of the patients recruited was 43.9±11.2 years with age range of 21-70 years. There were 57.4% of males and 42.2% of females. The most prevalent condylar head shapes in the anterior, superior and lateral views were round (60.4%), oblong 62.4% and round (62.4%) respectively. The ranges and means (SD) of the condylar head width (CHW), condylar head length(CHL) and condylar head height(CHH) were 17.2-22.1mm, 6.61-10.2mm, 2.26-.9 and 4.90(1.27) mm, 8.51(0.97) mm and 4.23 (0.84) mm respectively. The CWH (P = 0.00), CHL (P = 0.00) and CHH (P = 0.0I) were significantly greater in males compared to the females.
The most common condylar head is oblong in superior view and round in both anterior and lateral views. Male patients have significantly larger mandibular condyles. Therefore, fabrication of condylar head prosthesis with this specifications will be a better fit for Nigerians.
