Assessment of carotid calcifications on panoramic radiographs and its relationship with periodontal condition and smoking status

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study is to determine retrospectively the presence of carotid artery calcifications (CACs) detected on panoramic radiographs and to correlate the finding of such calcifications with gender, smoking status, medical history and periodontal status were evaluated. Methods Periodontal conditions of 1100 patients were assessed. According to periodontal clinical measurements, the patient was diagnosed with gingivitis or periodontitis. Each of the subjects had one digital panoramic radiograph. CAC findings were defined as radiopaque masses adjacent to the cervical vertebrae at or below the intervertebral space between C3 and C4 on the panoramic radiograph. Panoramic radiographs were evaluated for CAC presence. Results Of 1100 patients, 34 patients (3.1%; 21 female, 13 male) had one or more radiopaque mass detected on digital images. There was no statistically significant difference in smoking status, gender,sistemic health status between CAC (+) and CAC (-) gruops. As a result of multivariate logistic regression analysis, age was found to be an independent risk factor for differentiating CAC (+) and CAC (-) groups. There were 16 and 17 patients with smoking history in CAC(+) and CAC(-) groups, respectively. The distributions of the patients in terms of smoking history were statistically similar. Compared to patient under 40 years of age, the risk of CACs increases 4.49 fold in patients aged 40-55 years and 4.40 fold in patients over 55 years. Conclusions Digital panoramic images may have some diagnostic value for detecting CACs and this early diagnosis could potentially increase the length and quality of life for people with CACs. It was demostrated that the detection of CACs are increased with age.

Keywords

• smoking status