THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN OSTEOPOROSIS AND CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS: A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

Background & Objectives: Periodontitis and osteoporosis affects millions of people around the world resulting in significant amount of morbidity. This cross-sectional study aims to determine the association between osteoporosis and chronic periodontitis in postmenopausal women. Methods: The study sample consisted of 100 post menopausal women of whom 50 were cases   (Chronic periodontitis) and the remaining 50 were controls (non-chronic periodontitis). Bone mineral density was measured with an ultrasonometer and periodontal examination included gingival bleeding index (GBI), plaque index (PI),probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment loss (CAL) and average alveolar bone loss. Results: The case group showed a mean CAL value of 3.91 while the control group showed a mean CAL of 1.62 and the difference between the groups was statistically significant with a P value of 0.001. The case group showed a mean average alveolar bone loss value of 2.95 while the control group showed a mean value of 1.34 and the differences between the case and control groups was statistically significant with a P value of 0.001. Conclusion: This study showed an association between bone mineral density and variables of periodontal disease activity. The periodontal disease variables such as clinical attachment loss (CAL) and average alveolar bone loss worsened with decreasing bone mineral density values. Keywords: chronic periodontitis, osteoporosis, bone mineral density, clinical attachment loss (CAL), average alveolar bone loss (ABL).