Osteoporosis: Detection Using Dental Radiography

Abstract

Osteoporosis has been a cause for major concern for all the nations where the population of senior citizens has seen a spurt on account of better healthcare. However, where a timely diagnosis cannot be made, it causes a lot of suffering to the patient. The study aims at exploring the potential of dental radiography as a tool for diagnosis where a dentist could identify groups at high risk of suffering from this ailment much before they suffer from any fracture and to prevent it from happening by mitigating the various factors that may cause it. Going beyond the conventional techniques of diagnosis, this study evaluates the efficacy of the novel methodology studied under the Osteodent Project for determining risk or vulnerability to osteoporosis through radio-morphometric and visual indices or photodensitometric analysis of trabecular patterns. Dental Radiography is not the sole diagnostic method for this ailment but an adjunct to screening techniques that can be used by a dentist for undiagnosed cases in patients who are unaware of being at risk. Since dental X-rays capture a two-dimensional image, visual examination becomes imperative to assess dimensions of bone and make requisite calculations for bone mineral density to predict the risk of osteoporosis.