Your Dentist Can Track Your Bone Health

Stooped Back-a Result of Osteoporosis

Another Reason to see your dentist regularly!! Doctors at Hiroshima University Hospital say, after significant research, that that dentists can detect signs of osteoporosis as well. (Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density (BMD) is reduced, bone micro architecture is deteriorating, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered-Wiki)

Dentist Akira Taguchi and colleagues took a sample of 316 women (healthy and menopausal) and first studied their DENTAL X-Rays. They then accessed their spinal bone densities and  found that women suffering from loss in jaw were also suffering from lost of bones in their spines. The found the dental X-Rays to be 87 per cent effective in identifying women with spinal osteoporosis.

Many people are unaware of their low bone density conditions, since we do not get these tests done regularly. "Screening by dentists, who can be trained to recognise erosion in the jaw, could be an important step in identifying osteoporosis of the spine", says Taguchi. These X-rays , if people do get routinely would prove to be relatively inexpensive and easier way of identifying osteoporosis of the spine.

References: The Home Connection, of Metro West Inc