Radiographic interpretation of the mandibular angular cortex: a diagnostic tool in metabolic bone loss. Part II. Renal osteodystrophy.

Panoramic radiographs of patients with chronic renal failure showed a loss of cortical bone at the mandibular angle; the loss of cortical bone correlated very well with the degree of renal osteodystrophy, established by biopsy of the undecalcified iliac crest. The value of using the cortical thickness at the mandibular angle as a parameter in diagnosing metabolic bone loss is discussed.