Radiomorphometic Analysis of Mandibular Cortical Bone in Type I Diabetes Mellitus

Objectives: The objective of this research was to analyze the mandibular cortical bone of subjects with Diabetes Mellitus type 1 (DM1), through panoramic radiographs, and compare them with those of individuals without DM1
Methods: It was observational, case-control type study. The sample of the case-group consisted of 50 patients with DM1 and control-group consisted of 100 panoramic radiographs of individuals without DM1. Analysis of mandibular cortical bone was performed by radiomorphometry from the application of Mandibular Cortical Index (MCI), Menton Index (MI), Gonial index (GI), antegonial index (AI) and Upper Mandibular Panoramic Index and Lower Mandibular Panoramic Index (UMPI/LMPI) by using the Radioimp software. Radiographic analyzes were performed at three different times, by the same rater (double blind). At the end of the analysis mean of the three measurements was obtained and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, by analyses descriptives (mean and standard deviation) and inferential (chi-squared tests, Fisher's exact and ANOVA) (p ≤ 0.05).
Results: As a result, when analyzing the MCI, higher frequencies of individuals with cortical changes were observed in the case group, in both sexes and all age groups, with differences between groups (p <0.01). Regarding MI, GI, AI, UMPI and LMPI, statistically significant was only detected for the GI of females, whereas for males differences were observed for all the indices (p <0.05). Individuals with decompensated DM1 showed a significantly higher frequency of change in mandibular cortical (92.3%), based on the MCI, but also had lower averages of MI, GI, and AI and LMPI compared to those with the control DM1, such a difference being statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05).
Conclusions: In conclusion, individuals with DM1 showed decreased mandibular cortical bone compared to subjects in the control group, with indications that the decompensated DM1 causes harmful effects under the mandibular cortical.