Quantitative computed tomography of trabecular bone in the mandible.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the potential use of quantitative computed tomography (QCT) for the assessment of bone mineral density of the edentulous mandible prior to implant placement.

METHODS

Ten 2 mm thick CT slices of anterior and posterior edentulous sections from 15 mandibles were obtained perpendicular to the buccal and lingual plates. The bone mineral density, expressed as the amount of calcium hydroxyapatite (mg cm-3) of the trabecular bone, was calculated using a method that takes into account the influence of fat.

RESULTS

The variation of bone mineral density between mandibles was high. Anterior sections showed higher values than posterior sections and a variation was found within sections of the same mandible.

CONCLUSION

CT provides a site-related measure of the bone mineral density in the mandible and appears potentially useful as a non-invasive method to determine a parameter that may reflect bone quality prior to implant placement.