Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology (Jan 2017)
Correlation of mandibular ramus height and width with osteoporosis
Abstract
Context: Osteoporosis is a disease of bone with distinctive decrease in bone mineral density and bone strength. It is important to diagnose it early before the patient presents to the emergency with a fracture hip or spine. Orthopantomogram (OPG) X-ray being cost effective and employed commonly can be used to demonstrate changes in mandibular morphology in osteoporotic patients. This can lead to early diagnosis of osteoporosis at the stage of osteopenia in a cost-effective manner. Aim: This study aims at establishing a correlation between morphological changes in mandible on OPG with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan of femoral neck and spine to see whether or not the OPG can be employed for the early detection and screening tool for osteoporosis. Settings and Design: Patients, attendants, and volunteers visiting Dow Radiology and Patel Hospital participated in this cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: One hundred and seventy-four female participants, aged 25–85 years, were divided into premenopausal (Group I) and postmenopausal (Group II) groups. Each group was subdivided into normal (pre A, post A), osteopenic (pre B, post B), and osteoporotic (pre C, post C) groups by DXA scan. Mandibular morphological changes seen on OPG in subgroups of Group I were compared with each other and with subgroups of Group II. The parameters that were considered on OPG were mandibular ramus height (RH) and ramus width (RW). Statistical Analysis: Statistical analysis was performed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16 using one-way analysis of variance to evaluate intragroup significance, and for intergroup significance, independent samples t-test was applied. Results: RH and RW showed no significant change on OPG. Conclusion: RH and RW on an OPG cannot be used as a screening tool or early detector of osteoporosis.
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