Comparison of morphological measurements extracted from digitized dental radiographs with lumbar and femoral bone mineral density measurements in postmenopausal women.
BACKGROUND
We set out to determine whether morphologic measurements extracted from digitized images of bite-wing radiographs correlated with lumbar and femoral bone mineral density (BMD) measurements in 45 postmenopausal women who had no or only mild periodontal disease (no probing depths >5 mm).


METHODS
Lumbar spine and femoral BMDs were determined by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Vertical bite-wing radiographs were taken and digitized. Crestal and apical regions of interest (ROIs) were drawn on the digital images of the maxillary and mandibular alveolar bone on the patient's right and left sides. For each patient, a single morphologic measurement was made for each of 8 ROIs. Correlation analysis was performed to determine the strengths of the relationships between the morphologic measurements made at the 8 locations and between these morphologic measurements and BMD measurements.


RESULTS
The correlations (r) between the morphologic operator (MO) measurements and lumbar spine and femoral BMDs were weak (mean r = 0.02, range = 0.32 to -0.26) and not statistically significant, with no clear trends discernible. Correlations between MO measurements made at the 8 alveolar sites were also weak (mean r = 0.05, range = 0.35 to -0.38) and not statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
The MO measurements used in this study were weakly correlated with lumbar spine and femoral BMDs, with no clear trends discernible in this population of postmenopausal women with no or mild periodontal disease.
Shrout
M K
MK
Department of Oral Diagnosis & Patient Services, School of Dentistry, The Medical College of Georgia, Augusta 30912-1241, USA. mshrout@mail.mcg.edu
Hildebolt
C F
CF
Potter
B J
BJ
Brunsden
T K
TK
Pilgram
T K
TK
Dotson
M
M
Yokoyama-Crothers
N
N
Hauser
J
J
Cohen
S
S
Kardaris
E
E
Civitelli
R
R
Hanes
P
P
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000539:Alveolar Process / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015519:Bone Density; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008334:Mandible / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008437:Maxilla / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D017698:Postmenopause; D016300:Radiography, Bitewing; D019252:Radiography, Dental, Digital; D013223:Statistics as Topic