Association between dental health and osteoporosis: A study in South Indian postmenopausal women

• Main Authors: Nitin Kapoor, Kripa Elizabeth Cherian, Binay Kumar Pramanik, S Govind, Manna Elizabeth Winford, Sahana Shetty, Nihal Thomas, Thomas Vizhalil Paul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2017-01-01
• Series: Journal of Mid-Life Health
• Subjects: Bone mineral density; dental health; dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; osteoporosis
• Online Access: http://www.jmidlifehealth.org/article.asp?issn=0976-7800;year=2017;volume=8;issue=4;spage=159;epage=162;aulast=Kapoor

Aim: This study aims to objectively assess the dentition status in South Indian postmenopausal women and compare the dental health of osteoporotic participants with nonosteoporotic individuals. Materials and Methods: A total of 150 consecutive ambulatory South Indian postmenopausal women (>50 years of age) were assessed for their dental health using an internationally validated scoring system. Bone mineral density (BMD) was assessed using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scanner. Results: About 39% of the participants were found to have osteoporosis and 23% had osteopenia at any site. More than half of them (57%) had poor dental health, and the predominant problems were cavities (43.5%) and loss of teeth (75%). Among 112 women who had tooth loss, the mean tooth loss was 4.8. The mean tooth loss among patients with normal BMD was 1.09 ± 1.2, in osteopenia was 2.1 ± 2, and in osteoporosis was 5.4 ± 2.8 (P < 0.01). The odds of having osteoporosis among the patients with three or more tooth loss were found to be 4.2 (95% confidence interval = 2.4–7.3). Conclusion: Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis had significantly higher number of tooth loss. Tooth loss may thus be used as a surrogate marker to predict osteoporosis.