The utility of histopathologic examination in appreciation of mandibular osteoporotic status

The study was performed on 14 female patients aged between 54 and 83 years, presented for insertion of mandibular implants and diagnosed with systemic osteoporosis on DXA. Radiological examination showed no striking maxillar bone rarefactions or changes in the mandibular cortex form that allows the diagnosis of osteoporosis at the jaw. To obtain informations on the health status of mandibular bone in these patients, we considered it appropriate to do histopathological investigations on fragments of bone harvested from implant insertion area. To this end, fragments of bone harvested when performing the new alveolus were fixed in Stieve mixture, decalcified with trichloroacetic acid and included in paraffin. Five-micrometer thick sections were stained with Goldner's Trichrome method and examined microscopically. Histopathology revealed changes of different intensity in the organic and vascular components of the mandibular bone, in all patients studied, with differences from case to case. Thus, confirming that patients with systemic osteoporosis diagnosed by DXA at the femoral neck and/or the vertebrae have histological changes in the mandibular bone, but the extent of damage is different. Providing detailed information about organic component and bone vascularization, crucial components in the early stages of osseointegration, histopathology is more useful for assessing mandibular osteoporotic status, compared with methods of investigation that aim only the mineral component, mineralization being the final stage of osseointegration. Highlighting mandibular osteoporotic early lesions by histopathological examination allows a patient-specific therapeutic approach and could be an accurate method of assessment for required osseointegration period, depending on the degree of impairment.