TOMOGRAPHIC COMPUTER ASSESSMENT OF CHANGES IN THE ALVEOLARY CREST IN ELDERLY PATIENTS

Abstract

Radiographic methods provide useful information about bone tissue changes, and radiographs have the advantage that they can be stored and reevaluated at any time. However, radiographic evaluations are subject to several sources of error. The purpose of this study was to analyze the maxillary bones by computer tomographic analysis, assessing the value of their density as a predictive element in the success of oral rehabilitation by classical or modern methods. In this study, we selected 35 patients for dental CT scans made with a Somatom Emotion device, Siemens in order to apply dental implants and removable prostheses. 20 women and 15 men aged between 60-80 years participated in the study . For comparison, 6 dental CT scans from the group of patients under the age of 65 were analyzed. The measurements were made on approximately symmetrical right-left areas. A line parallel to the long axis of the horizontal branch of the mandible, tangential to the lower edge, was drawn. The correlative aspects established between the patient’s sex, bone density and the dimensions of the edentulous ridges underline a prevalence, in percentage of 55%, of medium ridges in the frontal area, associated with the female sex and a D3 bone density, while medium ridges both frontally and laterally associated with D3 density and association with the male sex. The value of the CT examination in evaluating the quality of edentulous ridges and some foreign bodies and sinus inflammatory processes with the evaluation of the proximity of important anatomical structures as landmarks in implantology is evident.

Keywords

• radiographic methods
• dental-ct program
• digital radiography
• bone density