OSTEOPOROSIS VERSUS TOOTH LOSS

Osteoporosis is a common metabolic disease of the bones that increases bone fragility due to decreased bone mass and bad quality of bone, leading to an increased risk of bone fracture. This disease affects all the bones, including femurs/pelvis, spine, forearms, ribs, mandible, and maxillary bone. Periodontitis is an inflammation of the tissue around the teeth that results from infections and leads to tooth loss due to attachment loss and destruction of the alveolar bones around the teeth. Apart from Periodontitis, does Osteoporosis also lead to tooth loss? The purpose of this article is to answer this question. An electronic search of English language literature was conducted through PubMed, Medline, and Google scholar. The articles were selected through their topics and contents regarding osteoporosis, periodontitis, and tooth loss. The selected articles included cross-sectional, cohort, and review studies. Osteoporosis and periodontitis are multifactorial diseases and recent studies revealed a positive relation between periodontal disease and osteoporosis. In summary, as well as osteoporosis has an indirect correlation with tooth loss by periodontitis, it also has a direct relationship with tooth loss by decreasing mandibular and maxillary alveolar bone density. Not only Tooth loss could occur due to periodontitis, but also it has many other reasons, which with nowadays researches osteoporosis counts as one of them. Due to the effect of osteoporosis in the reduction of BMD and its relationship with periodontitis, it can both directly and indirectly result in tooth loss. Further well-controlled researches are required to clarify the inter-relationship between osteoporosis and tooth loss.