Prevalence of ponticulus posticus of the first cervical vertebra: A digital radiographic study

Abstract

Introduction: Ponticulus posticus is an anomaly located on the first cervical vertebra which can be appreciated on the lateral cephalogram that is mostly neglected by the dentists. Aims and Objectives: To assess the prevalence of ponticulus posticus and its relationship with gender and age. Materials and Methods: A sample of 580 patients' lateral cephalograms were retrieved from the archives of the department (Sirona Orthophos XG 5). Seventy-nine lateral cephalograms were excluded, and only 501 lateral cephalograms were taken with the age range of 8 to 60 years. Each digital radiograph was inspected for the presence and absence of ponticulus posticus and further evaluated for both the partial and complete form using Sidexes software and the results were statistically analyzed. Results: Ponticulus posticus was observed in 14.4% of the patients, among which 2.8% had complete and 11.6% had partial type; 59.7% were females and 40.3% were males. Conclusion: Ponticulus posticus is not an uncommon anomaly; therefore, lateral cephalogram should be carefully examined to check for the presence of this anomaly.

Keywords

• Anomaly
• lateral cephalogram
• ponticulus posticus