Panoramic-Based Mandibular Indices and Bone Mineral Density of Femoral Neck and Lumbar Vertebrae in Women

Objective: The aim of this cross-sectional analytic study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of panoramic-based indices of the mandible (Mental Index-MI, Mandibular Cortical Index-MCI and Panoramic Mandibular Index-PMI) and to determine their correlationwith bone mineral density (BMD) of the femoral neck and lumbar vertebrae (L2-L4) in order to assess the possibility of using these parameters as indicators of osteoporosis.Materials and Methods: The mandibular indices of 67 women over 35 years old were measured from panoramic radiographs, and bone densitometry was performed in the femoral neck and lumbar vertebrae (L2-L4), using DXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry)technique. The patients were divided into three categories of normal, osteopenic andosteoporotic in each skeletal region. One-way ANOVA and ROC curve analyses were applied.The results were considered statistically significant when the P-value was less than 0.05.Results: Comparing the mean BMD in the femoral neck in women between C1 and C3 subgroups of MCI, a significant difference was detected (P=0.04). The mean PMI in the three skeletal subgroups was not different according to the skeletal region (P>0.05). We found a significant difference in mean MI between normal and osteopenic subgroups in the femoral neck (P=0.042).Conclusion: Using radiomorphometric indices of the mandible (MCI-MI) may be useful in determining the skeletal status of the patients, but is not sufficient for precise evaluation

Radiographic Evaluation of Idiopathic Osteosclerosis in Patients Referring to Mashhad Dental School from November 2002 to May 2004

Introduction: Idiopathic osteosclerosis is a common radiopaque lesion in the jaw bones, which is asymptomatic and usually detected accidentally in various radiographs. The purpose of this study was to determine the radiographic features of idiopathic osteosclerosis in the jawbones of patients referring to the maxillofacial radiology center of Mashhad Dental Faculty. Methods: In this descriptive study, panoramic radiographs of 300 patients ( 125 males, 175 females ) who had referred to the maxillofacial radiology department were evaluated for the presence of idiopathic osteosclerosis. The radiographic information included location, number, shape, size, relationship with teeth, pattern of density ( trabecular-cortical ) and demographic data ( age, sex ) and evidence of disease in the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys were also recorded . Then data was analyzed using chi-square and t-student test. Results : A total of 27 patients (9%), exhibited 40 foci of idiopathic osteosclerosis with different shapes and sizes (4 cm2 to 1/09 cm 2 ), most of which had well defined borders (65%) and trabecular density (62/5%) . The most common region for these lesions was in the mandible, especially in the second premolar (47/5%) and first molar (42/5%) regions and the majority had no connection to the teeth (57/5%). The lesions were most prevalent in the second decade of life (29/6%) followed by third and fourth decades. (25/9%) Conclusion: The results of this study were the same as that of previous similar studies. In addition, chronic renal failure was seen in 1/3 of patients with idiopathic osteosclerosis