Alignment of the Facial Foramina in Relation to Midline: 3D-Morphometric Study in a Brazilian Sample.

Introduction: the aim of this study was to evaluate the alignment of the supraorbital, infraorbital and mental foramina in relation to the midline according to the sex, the side and the dentition in a sample of CT skulls of a Brazilian sample by 3D morphometric analysis. Methods: A total of 116 CT scans from adults dried human skulls and mandibles were selected at random ranging in age from 19 to 100 years (±57.31), both sexes. Measurements were performed in Rhinoceros 5 software from the median sagittal plane referenced. Continuous outcomes underwent the Shapiro-Wilk's normality test followed by Student's paired t test or Wilcoxon's test to check for differences. To correct the p-value for multiple comparisons, the Tukey's or Dunn's multiple comparisons post-hoc tests were also performed for One-Way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test, respectively. The significance and confidence levels were set, respectively, at 5% and 95%. Results: when the supraorbital, infraorbital, and mental foramina of the same side were compared, a statistically significant result occurred for all comparisons for both sides regarding male and female individuals (p<0.0001). Conclusion: the present work showed in 3-D morphometric analysis that we did not find foramina alignment in any of those studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]