OSTEOPOROSIS

BODY OF MANDIBLE AND OSTEOPOROSIS

Abstract

Objectives: To establish a relation between changes in height of body of
mandible on Orthopantomogram (OPG) X-ray with Dual Energy X- ray Absorptiometry (DXA)
scan of femoral neck and spine to see whether or not the OPG X-ray can be employed as
early detector and as a screening tool for osteoporosis. Study Design: Cross sectional study.
Setting: Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi Pakistan. Period: December 2011 to March
2013. Methods: A sample of 174 females aged 25 to 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 X-ray in subgroups of Group I were compared
with each other and with subgroups of Group II. The parameters that were considered on OPG
X-ray were height of body of mandible at inner angle of jaw (HA) and at mental foramen (HF).
One Way Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) and T-test were applied to evaluate intragroup and
intergroup significance respectively. Results: The reduction in height at angle (HA) and height
at foramen (HF) showed that there was decrease in the height of body which was a measure of
both osteoporosis and age. Conclusion: A simple and cost effective method of screening was
established.