Association between unilateral impacted maxillary canines and mandibular condylar trabecular structure: a retrospective CBCT-based fractal analysis study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between unilateral impacted maxillary canines and mandibular condylar trabecular structure using fractal analysis on cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images. This study included CBCT records of 50 individuals with a unilaterally impacted maxillary canine. For each participant, the condyle ipsilateral to the impacted canine was defined as the impacted side, whereas the contralateral condyle was defined as the non-impacted side. Fractal dimension (FD) values were calculated on coronal CBCT sections of the trabecular bone of the mandibular condyle. Data were analyzed using paired-samples t-tests to compare FD values between the impacted and contralateral condyles, and independent-samples t-tests for side-based comparisons. The FD values of the mandibular condyles on the impacted side were numerically higher than those of the non-impacted side; however, the difference was not statistically significant ( p > 0.05). Similarly, in individuals with right-sided impaction, higher FD values were observed in the right condyle, whereas in those with left-sided impaction, higher FD values were observed in the left condyle; however, these comparisons also were not statistically significant ( p > 0.05). The non-significant tendency toward higher FD values on the impacted side may suggest possible subtle differences in trabecular complexity; however, this finding should be interpreted with caution and requires confirmation in larger prospective studies.