Evaluation of Pterygoid Hamulus Dimensions in Completely Edentulous Patients Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography

The inferior border of the medial pterygoid plate extends to form the pterygoid hamulus (PH).The PH's length and location are crucial for these functions.The PH's morphology helps in interpreting the imaging and also provides information regarding anatomical determinants to limit the posterolateral borders of maxillary complete dentures.This can also aid in gender identification in forensic situations.This study analyzed 80 CBCT scans from 40 male and 40 female patients (ages 25-67, median 38).Significant differences were found in pterygoid hamulus length between sexes: males had longer hamuli on both the right (8.8400.299mm vs. 7.9400.349mm, P=0.000) and left sides (7.8990.419mm vs. 7.2770.271mm, P=0.002).However, no significant differences in hamulus width were observed between males and females.These findings suggest length variations could be useful in clinical and anthropological contexts.Dimensions of pterygoid hamulus in completely edentulous patients will aid the clinician in precisely recording the posterolateral borders of maxillary dentures; this can also aid in gender determination in fragmented skulls in forensic applications.