THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ESTROGEN STATUS AND ALVEOLAR BONE-DENSITY CHANGES IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN WITH A HISTORY OF PERIODONTITIS

WHILE NUMEROUS STUDIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED a relationship between 17-bet a-estradiol (E(2)) deficiencies and skeletal bone loss in postmenopaus al females, the influence of E(2) deficiency on alveolar bone resorpti on is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the estrogen status of postmenopausal women and al veolar bone density changes in a 1-year longitudinal study. Twenty-fou r postmenopausal women,within 7 years of menopause, were divided into 2 groups, E(2)-sufficient (n = 10) and E(2)-deficient (n = 14). Venous blood samples were taken at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year for radioi mmunoassay determination of serum E(2) levels, At baseline and 1 year, 4 vertical bite-wing radiographs were taken for computer-assisted den sitometric image analysis (CADIA). Areas of interest (AOIs) for CADIA were crestal and subcrestal regions of posterior interproximal alveola r bone. Serum E(2) levels were significantly higher at all 3 time poin ts in the E(2)-sufficient subjects (P < 0.002, repeated measures ANOVA ), Overall, mean CADIA values (0.30 +/- 0.07 for the E(2)-sufficient w omen and -0.44 +/- 0.07 for the E(2)-deficient women) were statistical ly different between groups (P < 0.001, repeated measures ANOVA), indi cating that the E(2)-sufficient women displayed a mean net gain in alv eolar bone density and the E(2)-deficient women displayed a mean net l oss in alveolar bone density. Furthermore, the E(2)-sufficient women e xhibited a higher frequency of sites demonstrating a gain in alveolar bone density. These data suggest that estrogen status may influence al veolar bone density changes as demonstrated with CADIA.