The relationship between the metacarpal index and the rate of mandibular ridge resorption.

This study tried to determine whether a relationship exists between the degree of alveolar resorption of the edentulous mandible and the degree of osteoporosis, as expressed by the metacarpal index. Eighty patients were examined. Each had a radiograph of the left hand to show the second metacarpal, and a standard pan-oral radiograph. A morphological measurement of the metacarpal bone, which is a good indication of the mineral content of the skeleton, was made on each hand radiograph. Alveolar resorption was estimated on the pan-oral radiograph by taking the original height of the alveolar process as being three times the distance from the inferior border of the madible to the inferior edge of the mental foramen. The regression analysis revealed no relationship between osteoporosis, as measured by the metacarpal index, and the amount of alveolar bone resorption.