Mandibular shape and skeletal divergency

Pre-treatment lateral cephalograms of 41 skeletal Class I girls aged 11 to 15 were divided according to MP-SN angle: lower than 28 degrees (hypodivergent, 10 girls), between 31 and 34 degrees (normodivergent, 18 girls), or larger than 37 degrees (hyperdivergent, 13 girls). The mandibular outlines were traced and digitized, and differences in shape were quantified using the elliptic Fourier series. Size differences were measured from the areas enclosed by the mandibular outlines. Shape differences were assessed by calculating a morphological distance (MD) between the size-independent mean mathematical reconstructions of the mandibular outlines of the three divergency classes. Mandibular shape was different in the three classes: large variations were found in hyper-divergent girls versus normodivergent girls (MD = 4.61), while smaller differences were observed in hypodivergent girls (MD versus normodivergent 2.91). Mean size-independent mandibular shapes were superimposed on an axis passing through the centres of gravity of the condyle and of the chin. Normodivergent and hyperdivergent mandibles differed mostly at gonion, the coronoid process, sigmoid notch, alveolar process, posterior border of the ramus, and along the mandibular plane. A significant size effect was also found, with smaller mandibles in the hyperdivergent girls.