Association between sella turcica bridging and congenitally missing maxillary lateral incisors

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Sella turcica bridging (STB) and its association with dental anomalies has been investigated and reported in literature. This is the first study that exclusively compared STB among the orthodontic patients with congenital missing maxillary lateral incisors (CMMLI) and individuals with complete dentition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The retrospective study has recruited 49 patients with CMMLI (13 males and 36 females aged between 12 and 43 years) and 49 patients with complete dentition. Sella dimensions and association of STB with CMMLI were evaluated and the results were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: The comparison of mean diameter, length, and depth of sella between groups showed reduction in length among the CMMLI (p = 0.04). CMMLI group has shown a significant higher (p < 0.05) number of subjects (69.4%) with calcification when compared to control group (46.9%). The odds of having sella's bridging in patients with CMMLI were 2.5 times greater than patients with full set of teeth. Age showed a significant (p < 0.001) positive correlation with sella's width only in CMMLI. CONCLUSION: Patients with CMMLI tend to have an increased frequency of STB, and decreased sella turcica length.