Abstract: Objective: To investigate alveolar bone thickness in maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth region by cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), and to analyze the relationship between gender and the thickness of alveolar bone. Methods: One hundred and seventy-four CBCT images (71 males and 103 females) were selected for measuring alveolar bone thicknesses at labial, lingual, and interdental sides of anterior teeth at 2 mm (level 1, L1), 5 mm (level 2, L2), and 8 mm (level 3, L3) below the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ). The differences in alveolar bone thickness between female and male were analyzed. Results: Labial alveolar bone at L2 was the thickest in maxilla among three levels. With the increase in the distance from CEJ, alveolar bone became gradually thicker at maxillary lingual sites, mandible labial, and lingual sites. At the same level, alveolar bone at labial sites was thinner than that at lingual sites in anterior region, except for mandibular central incisor and lateral incisor at L1. Meanwhile, alveolar bone absence was common at L1. On the maxilla, lingual bone thickness of male was much thicker than that of female, while no gender difference was observed in other sites. Conclusion: Variation of alveolar bone thicknesses existed in anterior region, which provides an important anatomic reference for oral clinic therapy.

Key words: Alveolar bone, Cone beam CT, Anterior region