Distributional Variations in the Quantitative Cortical and Trabecular Bone Radiographic Measurements of Mandible, between Male and Female Populations of Korea, and its Utilization

It is important to investigate the irregularities in aging-associated changes in bone, between men and women for bone strength and osteoporosis. The purpose of this study was to characterize the changes and associations of mandibular cortical and trabecular bone measures of men and women based on age and to the evaluation of cortical shape categories, in a large Korean population. Panoramic radiographs of 1047 subjects (603 women and 444 men) aged between 15 to 90 years were used. Mandibular cortical width (MCW), mandibular cortical index (MCI), and fractal dimensions (FD) of the molar, premolar, and anterior regions of the mandibular trabecular bone were measured. Study subjects were grouped into six 10-years age groups. A local linear regression smoothing with bootstrap resampling for robust fitting of data was used to estimate the relationship between radiographic mandibular variables and age groups as well as genders. The mean age of women (49.56 ± 19.5 years) was significantly higher than that of men (45.57 ± 19.6 years). The MCW of men and women (3.17mm and 2.91mm, respectively, p < 0.0001) was strongly associated with age and MCI. Indeed, trabecular measures also correlated with age in men (r > −0.140, p = 0.003), though not as strongly as in women (r > −0.210, p < 0.0001). In men aged over 55 years, only MCW was significantly associated (r = −0.412, p < 0.0001). Furthermore, by comparison of mandibular variables from different age groups and MCI categories, the results suggest that MCW was detected to be strongly associated in both men and women for the detection of bone strength and osteoporosis. The FD measures revealed relatively higher association with age among women than men, but not as strong as MCW.