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Assessment of panoramic radiomorphometric indices in Turkish patients of different age groups, gender and dental status

A Gulsahi^*,1, B Yüzügüllü², P mirzalolu² and Y Genç³

¹Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey; ²Department of Prosthodontics, Baskent University, Turkey; ³Faculty of Medicine, Department of Biostatistics, Ankara University, Turkey

*Correspondence to: Aye Gulsahi, Bakent University, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology, 11 sok no. 26 06490, Bahçelievler, Ankara, Turkey; E-mail: agulsahi{at}baskent.edu.tr

Received 20 June 2007; revised 11 September 2007; accepted 18 September 2007

Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the distribution of the appearance of the inferior mandibular cortex (Mandibular Cortical Index (MCI)) in a large Turkish population group and to assess a range of values for cortical width at the mental foramen region (Mental Index (MI)) and the ratio of the thickness of the mandibular cortex to the distance between the inferior margin of the mental foramen and the inferior mandibular cortex (Panoramic Mandibular Index (PMI)) according to the MCI. In addition, we assess how age, sex and dental status affected the MCI.

Methods: Panoramic radiographs of 1863 patients, 698 (37.5%) men and 1165 (62.5%) women over 20 years old, were assessed during 2005–2006 from the files of Baskent University. Gender, age and dental status were recorded for each patient. MCI classifications, MI and PMI values in the MCI groups were evaluated and comparisons were made using logistic regression analysis.

Results: Compared with patients aged 20–49 years, the likelihood of MCI C3 category in patients over 70 years of age and in patients aged 50–69 years of age was 79.14 and 9.17 times higher. The likelihood of the C3 category in edentulous and partially dentate patients was 27.30 and 2.68 times higher than in fully dentate patients, respectively. The likelihood of C3 category in patients with MI <3 mm was 14.86 times higher than in patients with MI 3 mm; also, in patients with a PMI of <0.30 this likelihood was 9.78 times higher than in patients with a PMI of 0.30.

Conclusion: Without respect to gender, edentulous patients with C3 category, MI <3 mm and PMI <0.30 may be seen as high-risk patients for osteoporosis and therefore should be referred for further osteoporosis investigation.

Keywords: panoramic radiography; mandibular cortical index; mental index; panoramic mandibular index