Abstract
To investigate whether osteoporosis is a factor affecting periodontal disease, we investigated the relationship between periodontal condition and bone mineral density (BMD) of the calcaneus in 233 residents of Nagoya City (33 males and 200 females) aged 17 to 87 years. BMD was measured using an ultrasonic method and periodontal conditions were evaluated using the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN). Although the rate of periodontally diseased sextants (ROPS) showed a significant correlation with BMD in both males (r=-0.34, p<0.05) and females (r=-0.34, p<0.01), the association was not significant when the ROPS was regressed by multiple factors such as age, frequency of toothbrushing, menstrual status and body mass index (BMI) together with BMD. Only the number of toothbrushing was a significant factor in the premenopausal group. In the postmenopausal group, age had a significant relationship with periodontal condition. Menopause is only slighty associated with ROPS (OR=2.6, 95% CI : 0.9-7.4, 90% CI : 1.1-6.3). The results of this study suggest that factors such as age, frequency of toothbrushing and menopause might play roles in the initiation and progression of periodontal disease.
