[Incidence of nutrient canals in hypertensive patients with alveolar bone loss. A radiographic study]

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of the appearance of nutrient canals in periapical radiographs of the mandibular anterior region of hypertensive patients with alveolar bone loss. A total of 220 patients were examined, 120 patients exhibited hypertension and radiographic signs of alveolar bone loss, where 100 patients did not. The results of the present study showed that: 1. The incidence of the appearance of the nutrient canals is much greater in the hypertensive patients with alveolar bone loss (58.33%) than in the nonhypertensive patients without alveolar bone loss (54%). 2. In hypertensive patients with alveolar bone loss, nutrient canals are seen more frequent in females (59.01%) than in males (57.62%). 3. The number of nutrient canals increases with severity of alveolar bone loss.