Review Article

Evaluation and appraisal of osteopenia on jaws: An update

Iosifina Theodorou¹, Efthymia Tsoukala¹, Georgia Chochtoula¹, George I. Lambrou^1,2,3

1. Postgraduate Program “Metabolic Bone Diseases”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, Athens, Greece
2. Laboratory for the Research of the Musculoskeletal System “Th. Garofalidis”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, Athens, Greece
3. Choremeio Research Laboratory, First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

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Keywords: Dental panoramic x-ray, OSTEODENT, Osteopenia, Osteoporosis

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Abstract

The aim of the present work is to review data of the OSTEODENT project, whose purpose was to compare dental X-rays with DXA results in order to determine the possibility of diagnosing osteopenia and osteoporosis, in advance. OSTEODENT project provided us with up-to-date data which are presented directly and briefly in this paper in order to compare techniques and methodologies that have been used by each research group. Researchers examined pre - existing dental panoramic and periapical X-rays on subjects of specific criteria, primarily women 45-70 of age. Measurements of bone density were calculated on these X-rays using pre-existing classifications, consequently they were compared to accurate bone density measurements according to DXA. Comparing the results, researchers were able to determine the accuracy, in question, of the methods used. These data have been processed by four university institutes in Europe, using pre-existing classifications, yet the aforementioned project provided the background for new merged clinical classifications as well as new documentation systems. All studies agree towards the direction that there is a larger need for further research on craniofacial imaging and metabolic bone diseases.

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