Evaluation of effect of age and gender on cervical vertebrae density in cone beam computed tomography images

Abstract

Introduction and goal: CBCT is widely used in dentistry. When the mandible is considered images of the cervical vertebrae are also taken. This image can be used to determine cervical vertebrae density; if there is a problem the patient can be referred to solve the problem. The CBCT has low radiation dose and cost. So the purpose of this study is to evaluate the density of cervical vertebrae in CBCT. Materials and methods: CBCT images of 80 patients were examined in this descriptive-analytical study. Density of the 5 cervical vertebrae was evaluated in the sagittal and axial sections. Linear regression and independent T-test were used to evaluate age and gender effect on cervical vertebral density. SPSS software version 17 was used for data analysis. Findings: due to the effect of gender, density was higher in women than in men, in the sagittal section in vertebrae 1(p-value=0.001), 2(p-value=0.04) and 3(p-value=0.04) and in the axial section in vertebrae 2(p-value=0.01), 3(p-value=0.02) and 4(p-value=0.06). Regarding the effect of age, density in age groups in the sagittal view was significant in vertebrae 4 and 5 (p-value=0.04). Density of the 20-30 years was highest and the lowest density was in 50-60 years. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that cervical vertebrae density is higher in women than in men. Bone density is lower in older age groups and the lower cervical vertebrae are better for assessing the effect of age. In this study the axial sections did not show much significant differences, so it is better to use sagittal section to evaluate differences between age and gender.