Incidental Finding of Carotid Artery Calcification in a Prosthodontic Patient

A 62-year-old female patient reported with a chief complaint of missing teeth and wanted to replace the same as she was having difficulty in mastication. Patient gave a history of the exfoliation of multiple teeth due to mobility and she also got few of her teeth extracted due to caries and pain. There was no significant family or medical history. Intraoral examination revealed multiple missing teeth and all the remaining teeth were mobile. Periodontal condition was poor. Panoramic radiograph was taken for the patient which revealed multiple missing maxillary and mandibular teeth. Apart from this a well defined solitary radiopaque nodular structure was seen the level of the lower margin of the cervical vertebra on the left side (Figure 1). Based on the clinical and radiographic findings, a provisional diagnosis of chronic generalised periodontitis was made. The radiopaque structure was identified as carotid artery calcification of the left side. The patient was referred to the physician who declared the patient as healthy. Patient was advised to undergo extraction of severely mobile teeth Followed by prosthesis for missing teeth. Panoramic radiographs are invariably used in routine dental practice are known to detect calcified atherosclerotic plaques that are eventually deposited in the carotid arteries [1]. Even though panoramic radiographs can aid in detecting carotid artery atheromas, there are more advanced imaging exams indicated for this purpose [2]. Carotid artey calcification found as incidental findings panaromic radiograph may be important markers for future cerbrovascular accident [3].