Relationship between bone mineral density and tooth loss in elderly Japanese women

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between vertebral bone mass and too th loss and jaw bone mass in elderly Japanese women. Methods: Mandibular cortical bone mass, alveolar bone height and number of teeth present (total, anterior, and posterior) were compared with the 3rd l umbar vertebral bone mineral density (L3BMD), measured by dual energy compu ted tomography (DEQCT), in 90 Japanese women by means of multiple regressio n analysis, controlling for body mass index, menopausal status, years since menopause and self-reported periodontal condition. Results: Mandibular cortical bone mass and number of posterior teeth were a ssociated with both alveolar bone height and L3BMD, but there was no associ ation between alveolar bone height, number of anterior teeth present and L3 BMD. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the loss of posterior teeth may be ass ociated with a decrease not only in alveolar bone height, but also alveolar bone mineral density (BMD). The latter may be related to a decrease of lum bar vertebral BMD.