Digital panoramic radiography as a useful tool for detection of bone loss: a comparative study.

This study was aimed to investigate the use of panoramic radiography in patients with low bone mineral density (BMD) in order to diagnose and prevent osteoporotic fractures. Panoramic radiographs of 60 patients  (20 men and 40 women) aged from 40 to 70 years with cortical thicknesses of less than 3 mm in the mandibular angle were selected from patients referred to a dentomaxillofacial radiology clinic and were then examined for mandibular cortical angles. These were measured using Computed Radiography (CR) software.