The importance of cone beam CT in the radiological detection of osteomalacia.

Although osteomalacia is one of the most common osteometabolic diseases among the elderly, there is no case in the literature that presents the effects of osteomalacia in detail using cone beam CT (CBCT). While thin and porous bones are the most common radiographic sign of the disease, the radiological hallmarks are pseudofractures (Looser's zone). We coincidentally detected osteomalacia in a 23-year-old female and we showed the pseudofracture on CBCT images. In the present case, we aim to present the images of osteomalacia that were detected by CBCT in detail. CBCT has an important value in screening for osteomalacia.

Reliability of mandibular cortical index and mandibular bone mineral density in the detection of osteoporotic women.

OBJECTIVES: Measuring the bone mineral density (BMD) of the femur and lumbar vertebrae has been the traditional method for determining osteoporosis in women. In this study, we tried to determine the relationships between mandibular dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (m-DXA) values obtained with a new methodology, mandibular cortical index (MCI), total BMD values of the femur and lumbar vertebrae in 80 women with osteoporosis determined by DXA in conformity with T-score thresholds, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). METHODS: m-DXA and panoramic radiography were performed on 80 women with osteoporosis. m-DXA was calculated by manual analysis of DXA scans. MCI was determined by the appearance of the mandibles on panoramic radiographs. DXA measurements of the skeletal BMD (femur and lumbar vertebras) and MCI values were also calculated. Correlations between these variables were assessed. RESULTS: Although there were no correlations between skeletal BMD (total BMD values of the femur and lumbar vertebras) and mandibular measurements (mDXA and MCI), we found that there was a significant correlation between the skeletal BMDs (r = 0.355, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that no significant correlations were found between the mandibular and non-mandibular measures in women with osteoporosis.

Dental panoramic radiography in the diagnosis of osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is common in the elderly and the dentist is often the only healthcare professional that they visit regularly. Since dental panoramic radiographs (DPRs) are widely used for routine examinations when planning treatment, this study evaluated whether the presence of osteoporosis might be apparent in a population of patients who underwent DPR. The mandibular cortical index (MCI) and a new method of measuring the mandibular radiographic density (m-RD), which used DPR that incorporated an aluminium step-wedge, were compared with the total vertebral bone mineral density (v-BMD) of the lumbar vertebrae measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in 25 osteoporotic women. Although there was only a weak correlation between m-RD and v-BMD, significant correlation was found between MCI and v-BMD. Since both m-RD and MCI were related to vBMD, dental radiographic density and MCI may be useful in clinical dental practice to identify osteoporotic women with previously undetected low BMD.

Relationship between mandibular nutrient canals and hypertension.

This study was undertaken to investigate the correlation between the presence of nutrient canals in the mandibular anterior region and hypertension. Periapical radiographs taken from the mandibular anterior region of 139 normotensive and 76 hypertensive edentulous patients were examined. There was no statistical difference in the incidence of nutrient canals between normotensive and hypertensive patients, suggesting that the presence of nutrient canals is not indicative of the existence of hypertension.