ABSTRACT
The physiological process of pneumatization forms the maxillary sinus during its growth stage, which brings the maxillary sinus floor into contact with the alveolar ridge that supports the maxillary posterior teeth. In dentulous states, this may allow complications in the extraction procedures. Whereas in the edentulous states, this may lead to the continuation of pneumatization resulting in an increase of maxillary sinus volume and a decrease of residual alveolar bone height, which affects the future placement of dental implants. This study aimed to determine the differences in the distance between the maxillary sinus floor to the crest of the alveolar ridge in dentulous and edentulous using panoramic radiography. Two students in their final year of dental education evaluated the panoramic data by measuring the distance from the maxillary sinus floor to the crest of the alveolar ridge of all maxillary posterior teeth, excluding the maxillary third molar. A total of 114 imaging data were categorized into 57 dentulous and 57 edentulous. The Cohen's Kappa score for inter-observer reliability ranged from 0.826 to 0.911. The independent T-test analysis revealed a comparison of differences in the distance between the dentulous and edentulous, which resulted in a statistically significant difference in the distance found only in the maxillary first right molar of the edentulous compared to the dentulous. The significant difference in the distance of the edentulous is caused by the continuation of the maxillary sinus pneumatization, resulting in a decreased alveolar ridge. The other maxillary posterior teeth of the edentulous showed no statistically significant differences in the distance, which may be influenced by tooth position, number of missing teeth, and time interval after tooth extraction. On the other hand, the roots of the right and left maxillary first and second molar of the dentulous may have proximity to the maxillary sinus.
