Skeleton and Radiomorphometric Indices in Women' Mandible in Panoramic Radiography

Objectives:

The relationship between radiomorphometric indices of mandibular bone(Panoramic Mandibular Index, PMI; the height of mandibular Inferior Cortex, IC(mm); Mandibular Cortical Index,MCI) in panoramic radiography and skeletal status in femoral neck and lumbar spine(L₂-L₄) was evaluated in women referring to radiology department of Mashhad dental school.

Methods:

In this cross sectional study radiomorphometric indices of mandibular bone of 67 women over 35 years old referring to radiology department were recorded.

Women with a history of bone affecting metabolism drugs or diseases were excluded from our study. All the cases should have had a panoramic radiography in their orders. Then patients referred to Toos Bone Densitometry Center, for bone densitometry in left femoral neck and lumbar spine (L₂-L₄), using DEXA technique with Osteocore apparatus. The patients were divided into three categories of normal, osteopenic and osteoporotic in each skeletal region according to their T-score. The data were analyzed by ANOVA, and pearson's correlation coefficient.

Results:

 Comparing average of Bone Mineral Density, between C₁ and C₃ subgroups of MCI, in postmenopausal women in femoral neck, a significant difference was detected (P-Value=0.04).

The average of PMI in the three different skeletal categories, was not different according to skeletal region and menesturation status (P-Value>0.05).

Conclusion:

The results of this study showed that the use of radiomorphometric indices of mandible (especially MCI) can help to determin skeletal status of patients but is not enough for precise evaluation of patient's skeletal status.