Detecting the effect of bisphosphonates during osteoporosis treatment on jawbones using multidetector computed tomography: The OSTEOSYR project.

AIM: The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate the effects of bisphosphonates (BP), prescribed for osteoporosis, on jawbones using multidetector computed tomography (MDCT).

METHODS

Fifty-three women who had dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry examination were scanned by MDCT. Both the cortical and the trabecular parts of the alveolar and the cortical bones were compared between BP users and non-BP users using a number of radiological measurements. Linear regression was used for the statistical analysis.

RESULTS

The cortical part of the basal bone of the mandible revealed a significant increase in the BP group (.001 > P-value ≤ .026) after using BP for 5 years. No alternations were observed in the trabecular part of the basal bone or in the cortical or trabecular parts of the alveolar bone over the same duration.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of BP as a treatment for osteoporosis for 5 years increased the thickness of the cortex of the basal bone of the mandible, as detected by MDCT. The other parts of the jawbones showed no influence by BP for such a purpose, as detected on MDCT images. Accordingly, models (equations) for predicting the alternations in the inferior cortex of the mandible induced by BP therapy during osteoporosis have been suggested.