title: Detecting young Japanese adults with undetected low skeletal bone density using panoramic radiographs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The cortical width below the mental foramen of the mandible determined from panoramic radiographs is a useful screening tool for identifying elderly individuals with a low skeletal bone mineral density (BMD). However, whether the mandible cortical width (MCW) is useful for identifying a low skeletal BMD in men and women of 40 years or younger is not known.
  
  
  METHODS
  The BMD of the calcaneus was measured by ultrasonography bone densitometry in 158 men and 76 women aged 18-36 years. A logistic regression analysis adjusted for age was used to calculate the odds ratios and 95% confidence interval (CI) of having a low calcaneal BMD, according to the quartiles of the MCW. The areas under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) for identifying participants with a low calcaneal BMD using the MCW were assessed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the MCW.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In men, the adjusted odds ratios of a low calcaneal BMD associated with the second, third and lowest quartiles of MCW were 5.66 (95% CI, 0.61-52.23), 5.43 (95% CI, 0.59-50.18) and 33.22 (95% CI, 3.97-276.94), respectively, compared with the highest quartile, while no significant trend in the adjusted odds ratios was observed in women. The AUC for identifying participants with a low calcaneal BMD based on the MCW was 0.796 (95% CI, 0.702-0.890) in men and 0.593 (95% CI, 0.398-0.788) in women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MCW determined from panoramic radiographs can be used to identify undetected low calcaneus BMD in young adult men, but not in young adult women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dentistry, Matsumoto Dental University, 1780 Gobara Hirooka, Shiojiri, Japan. akiro@po.mdu.ac.jp
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taguchi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sugino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kozai
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mochizuki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Osanai
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuroiwa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujiki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yoshinari
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kashima
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019540:Area Under Curve; D015519:Bone Density; D002111:Calcaneus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008336:Mandibular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult