Morphometric evaluation of sella turcica and cranial base in patients with congenital absence of teeth.

Objectives: To evaluate the size and shape of sella turcica and cranial base in patients with different degrees of congenital absence of teeth.

Methods: The subjects comprised 322 patients from the Department of Orthodontics, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University from 2020 to 2021. Based on the number of congenital absence of teeth, the patients were divided into three groups: control group (without loss of teeth, =112), group Ⅰ (loss of 1-2 teeth, =104), and group Ⅱ (loss of 3 or more teeth, =106). Uceph cephalometric software was used to measure the linear and angular parameters of cranial base. The length, depth, and diameter of sella turcica were also calculated. The shape of sella turcica was described as normal or with aberrations. Analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis test, chi-square test, and Fisher's exact test were conducted with SPSS 21.0.

Results: No statistical differences were observed in the length, depth, and diameter of sella turcica and parameters related to the cranial base among the three groups (>0.05). The incidence of sella turcica bridge among the three groups was statistically significant (=0.013). The incidence was higher in the study group compared with the control group (<0.05), and no significant difference was observed between groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ (>0.05).

Conclusions: Although the linear size of sella turcica and parameters related to the cranial base was not statistically different between normal subjects and patients with congenital absence of teeth, the incidence of sella turcica bridge was higher in patients with congenital absence of teeth, suggesting the possibly abnormal anatomical morphology of sella turcica in this population.