Abstract
No analysis of the skeletal bone mineral content in patients with juvenile periodontitis seems to be available. The purpose of the present analysis, therefore, was to determine, on the basis of estimation of the skeletal bone mineral content (BMC), if an osteopenia is present in patients with juvenile periodontitis. The material consisted of 30 subjects without known systemic diseases: one group of 15 patients with juvenile periodontitis and a control group of 15 subjects with normal periodontal conditions. Test- and control subjects were paired according to sex, age, height, and weight. Each group comprised four men and 11 women aged 18-31 years. The bone mineral content (BMC) was estimated by gamma-ray photon absorptiometry of both forearms, expressed (in arbitrary units) as the mean value of 6 scans of each forearm. No significant differences were found between the total average of the 6 scans from right and left forearms or between the total and mean value for BMC in the test- and in the control group. Conclusively, the analysis shows that the BMC values lie within normal limits in patients with juvenile periodontitis. Therefore, a generalized osteopenia does not seem to be a contributory factor in this disease.
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