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Risk of vertebral osteoporosis in post-menopausal women with alterations of the mandible

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Hiroshima University Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan; ² Division of Medical Intelligence and Informatics, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan; ³ Division of Clinical Medical Science, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan; ⁴ Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, Aichi-Gakuin University, Nagoya, Japan

*Correspondence to: Akira Taguchi, DDS, PhD, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Hiroshima University Hospital, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-Ku, Hiroshima 734-8553, Japan; Email: akiro{at}hiroshima-u.ac.jp

Received 13 March 2006; revised 26 May 2006; accepted 19 June 2006

Background: Previous studies have suggested that a thin or eroded cortex of the mandible detected on dental panoramic radiographs is associated with low vertebral bone mineral density (BMD) or osteoporosis. However, those studies did not estimate the multivariate-adjusted risk for low vertebral BMD or osteoporosis associated with alterations of the mandible.

Methods: BMD of the lumbar vertebrae (L2–L4) was compared among quartiles of cortical width and among three cortical shape categories in 450 post-menopausal women (mean age, 57.2 years), adjusted for potential confounders. The odds ratios for low BMD or osteoporosis according to cortical width and shape were also calculated.

Results: Significant associations were found between cortical width and shape, and vertebral BMD. The odds ratios for low vertebral BMD associated with the second, third and lowermost quartiles of cortical width were 1.71 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.96–3.05), 2.30 (95% CI, 1.29–4.11) and 5.43 (95% CI, 2.16–10.71), respectively, compared with the uppermost quartile. The odds ratios for osteoporosis according to cortical width category were similar to those for low BMD. The odds ratios for low BMD associated with mildly to moderately and severely eroded cortices were 3.85 (95% CI, 2.37–6.25) and 7.84 (95% CI, 2.57–23.90), respectively, compared with normal cortex. The odds ratios for osteoporosis associated with mildly to moderately and severely eroded cortices were 4.73 (95% CI, 2.54–8.80) and 14.73 (95% CI, 6.14–35.47), respectively.

Conclusions: Post-menopausal women with alterations of the mandible may have an increased risk for low vertebral BMD or osteoporosis.

Keywords: osteoporosis; bone; menopause; women; mandible

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