panoramic-based mandibular indices and bone mineral density of femoral neck and lumbar vertebrae in women

objective: the aim of this cross-sectional analytic study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of panoramic-based indices of the mandible (mental index-mi, mandibular cortical index-mci and panoramic mandibular index-pmi) and to determine their correlation with bone mineral density (bmd) of the femoral neck and lumbar vertebrae (l2-l4) in order to assess the possibility of using these parameters as indicators of osteoporosis. materials and methods: the mandibular indices of 67 women over 35 years old were measured from panoramic radiographs, and bone densitometry was performed in the femoral neck and lumbar vertebrae (l2-l4), using dxa (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) technique. the patients were divided into three categories of normal, osteopenic and osteoporotic in each skeletal region. one-way anova and roc curve analyses were applied. the results were considered statistically significant when the p-value was less than 0.05. results: comparing the mean bmd in the femoral neck in women between c1 and c3 subgroups of mci, a significant difference was detected (p=0.04). the mean pmi in the three skeletal subgroups was not different according to the skeletal region (p>0.05). we found a significant difference in mean mi between normal and osteopenic subgroups in the femoral neck (p=0.042). conclusion: using radiomorphometric indices of the mandible (mci-mi) may be useful in determining the skeletal status of the patients, but is not sufficient for precise evaluation.