Osteoporosis and oral bone loss.

Abstract

This paper is a review of the literature on the possible association between osteoporosis and oral bone loss, with an emphasis on radiological studies. Such an association was first suggested in 1960. Subsequent histomorphometric and microradiographic studies showed that after the age of 50 there was a marked increase in the cortical porosity of the mandible, with this increase being greater in the alveolar bone than the mandibular body; and that with this increase in porosity, there was a concomitant decrease in bone mass, which appeared to be more pronounced in females than in males, with the loss in bone mineral content estimated to be 1.5% per year in females and 0.9% in males. These studies also demonstrated a considerable amount of variation in the amounts of cortical and trabecular bone within and among individuals. Subsequent clinical studies reported associations between the bone densities of jaws and (1) metacarpals, (2) forearm bones, (3) vertebrae and (4) femurs. These studies indicated that women had lower mandibular bone mineral content (BMC) than men and that age-related loss of bone was more pronounced in women after the age of 50 years than in men of the same age, as was the case for the rest of the body. It was suggested that systemic factors responsible for osteoporotic bone loss may combine with local factors (periodontal diseases) to increase rates of periodontal alveolar bone loss. Although not all studies found associations between osteoporosis and oral bone loss, the conclusion of this review is that such an association exists; yet additional longitudinal investigations are needed to confirm this, and before the implications of this association could be fully utilized in clinical dentistry, inexpensive methods must be developed for sensitive and specific measures of oral bone loss.

Caracterización de Estructuras Anatómicas Mediante Radiografías Panorámicas: El Foramen Mental

“…Esta disminución en la visibilidad es aun más pronunciada en un estudio realizado por Ngeow et al (2010), que sólo alcanzó al 45% en pacientes mayores de 50 años, mientras que Kuzmanovic et al (2003) visualizaron los FM en el 88% de radiografías panorámicas de pacientes con un rango etario de 64 a 93 años. Esta disminución significativa de la visibilidad del FM a medida que aumenta la edad, puede deberse a que después de los 50 años existe un aumento en la porosidad del hueso cortical y una disminución de la masa ósea (Hildebolt, 1997), lo que causaría un aumento en la radiolucidez del hueso y la subsecuente falta de contraste con el FM, siendo esta última una estructura radiolúcida. Por otra parte, se encontró mayor hallazgo del FM en el sexo masculino (91,9% y 95,9% en el lado derecho e izquierdo, respectivamente), observando diferencias significativas solo en el lado izquierdo (P=0,02), lo que podría explicarse por la desmineralización y pérdida de masa ósea en individuos adultos, que es tres veces mayor en mujeres (Benson et al, 1991).…”

Radiodensitometric and DXA analyses for the measurement of bone mineral density after systemic alendronate therapy

“…Therefore, DXA uses an x-ray source to produce a discrete energy beam that is attenuated as it travels through the patient. 9,19 In the present study, DXA was highly effective in measuring the BMD of rat proximal tibial metaphysis and revealed a signifi- DXA has recently been adapted to measure body composition in animals, such as rats and mice, using specialized software in conjunction with clinical whole-body DXA machines. 20 The Lunar PIXImus used in the present study is a fully integrated densitometer with an attached laptop computer and desktop printer; it was designed for the estimation of BMD and body composition.…”

Atrophy of the residual alveolar ridge following tooth loss in an historical population

“…The observed features within the jawbone mirror only the conditions at time of death. The role of osteoporosis in the development and progression of jaw atrophy is still controversially discussed (Hildebolt, 1997;Bollen et al, 2004;Felton, 2009;Yüzügüllü et al, 2009). However, due to the large sample size of 263 jaw specimens it was economically not possible to study systemic bone disorders such as osteopenia and osteoporosis by means of x-rays or DEXA.…”