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Introduction: Race estimation of unknown individual is essential in forensic investigation. The resiliency of frontal sinus makes it a potential tool for biological profiling, particularly in cases where fragmented skeleton persists. Geometric morphometrics is an efficient way to characterise shape. However, the use of frontal sinus to identify race of Malaysians is yet to be investigated. This research employed a two-dimensional (2D) geometric morphometric to examine the morphological differences of the frontal sinus among the major races in Malaysia. Methods: Lateral skull radiographs which comprising of 453 adult Malaysian (151 Malays, Chinese and Indian respectively) were used. The 2D landmarks of eight were placed on the digitalized radiographs and 2D geometric morphometric analysis was performed using MorphoJ software. Results: Procrustes ANOVA revealed a significantly different frontal sinus shape (p-value < 0.05) between races. Canonical variate analysis showed significantly different frontal sinus morphology (p-value < 0.05) between Malay and Indian as well as Chinese and Indian. Discriminant function analysis with cross-validation demonstrated a 57.4% accuracy rate. Conclusion: This population-specific study based on frontal sinus of Malaysians using the 2D geometric morphometric, though less reliable, sheds new light on the potential applicability of this method for race estimation purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The morphology of the condyles changes naturally with age, gender, face type, occlusal force, functional load, malocclusion type, and the right and left sides. Although condylar shape and size differ throughout populations, there have been few investigations on condylar morphology, particularly in the Malaysian population. Methods: This retrospective, observational, cross-sectional survey was conducted at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic of Sarawak General Hospital from September 2021 to March 2022, involving radiographic assessment of condylar morphology from 893 panoramic radiographs. Age, gender, ethnicity and dentition status using Eichner index were extracted from the data. Descriptive statistics were used. Pearson's chi-square test was used to determine the association between the independent variables (age, gender, ethnicity and dentition status) and the shape of the mandibular condyle. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Only 450 panoramic radiographs were included in this study. The condyles were outlined and grouped into four categories, namely pointed (40.2%), round (32.8), angled (18.8), and flat (8.2%). Condylar morphology was found to be significantly associated with gender (p<0.005) and insignificant with other independent variables. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the most prevalent condylar morphology among the Sarawak population is the pointed shape, in contrast with other previous studies that reported the round shape condylar morphology as the majority shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effect of reducing scanning parameters of digital dental panoramic tomogram (DPT) and lateral cephalometric (LC) radiographs on quality and diagnostic performance of the images. Single-centre prospective two-arm parallel randomised controlled trial. Orthodontic Clinic, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia. Adult orthodontic patients aged 18–35 years, indicated for DPT and LC, who were fit and healthy with a body mass index of 18.5–25.0, not contraindicated to radiographic examination, not pregnant, and did not have a history of facial or skeletal abnormalities or bone diseases were included. Thirty-eight adult orthodontic patients were randomised into control and intervention groups. DPT and LC radiographs in the control group were obtained using standard scanning parameters as prescribed by the manufacturer using Orthopantomograph® OP300 by Instrumentarium. Scanning parameters in the intervention group were reduced by 60% for DPT (60 kV, 3.2 mA) and 30% for LC (85 kV, 8 mA). A five-point rating scale was used for the assessment of image quality. Images were evaluated for diagnostic performance by detection of anatomical landmarks. Mann–Whitney test was performed to compare the quality and diagnostic performance of the images and the observer agreement was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). For image quality, the control group produced slightly lower median scores (DPT 2.0, LC 2.0) compared to the intervention group (DPT 2.0, LC 3.0). For diagnostic performance, both groups showed similar median scores (DPT 21.0, LC 32.0). The differences between control and intervention groups for both modalities were not statistically significant. The average scores for intra-observer agreement were excellent (ICC 0.917) and inter-observer agreement was good (ICC 0.822). Minimising radiation exposure by reducing scanning parameters on digital DPT by 60% and LC by 30% on Intsrumentarium 300 OP did not affect the quality and diagnostic performance of the images. Thus, scanning parameters on digital DPT and LC should be reduced when taking radiographs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the frequency of C-shaped canal in mandibular second molar among Malay population by using radiographic and clinical examination and to compare the effectiveness between both methods. Other objectives are to know which classification of C-shaped canal is significant and the relation between number of roots and its occurrence. 86 mandibular second molars teeth were collected from different government clinics in Malaysia. All teeth were cleaned, sterilized and mounted in a mixture of Plaster of Paris and sawdusts. CBCT images and periapical radiograph were taken for each sample. Access cavity was done and the shape of the canals was evaluated with the aids of Surgical Operating Microscope (SOM). Teeth with C-shaped canal were categorized by using the radiographic classification and Min's method. C-shaped canals were identified in 49(57.00%) mandibular second molars by periapical radiograph (type I, 18.37%; type II, 75.51%; type III, 6.12%). %). As for CBCT examination, 49(57.00%) exhibited c-shaped canal (type I, 34.69%; type II, 28.57%; type III, 18.37%; type IV, 18.37%). Clinical examination showed that 44(51.16%) cases having C-shaped canal (type I, 36.36%; type II, 27.27%; type III, 18.18%; type IV, 18.18%). Kappa statistic between both methods is 0.98. 77.8% of one-rooted sample have C-shaped canal (type I, 85.71%; type II, 0.00%; type III, 14.29%) and 56.8% of two-rooted exhibited c-shaped canal (type I, 7.14%; type II, 88.10%; type III, 4.76%). Frequency of C-shaped canal in one-rooted mandibular second molar was high in Malay population. The types of C-shaped canal were significant. Both methods of assessment were reliable. Root number has relation with the presence of C-shaped canal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]