Mandibular cortical index in the screening of postmenopausal at low mineral density risk: a systematic review

This systematic literature review addressed the use of mandibular cortical index (MCI), assessed by panoramic radiography, for the identification of postmenopausal women at risk of osteoporosis.

Databases were searched for original research studies published from September 2010 to September 2020 using the following keywords: "postmenopausal osteoporosis" and synonyms combined with "panoramic radiography" and synonyms. Only English language manuscripts and studies pertaining to the MCI were selected.

A total of 24 studies were included. The publications were highly heterogeneous in terms of the subject of interest, i.e. the MCI, with some studies comparing the usefulness of the MCI using panoramic radiography and using cone beam computed tomography, and others comparing different radiomorphometric indexes developed for panoramic radiography.

Based on the literature included in this systematic review, we conclude that the MCI is useful as an auxiliary tool for identifying postmenopausal females at risk of low bone mineral density (BMD), as it correlates with skeletal BMD measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry. Nevertheless, other radiomorphometric indexes obtained from panoramic radiographs, such as panoramic mandibular index, mental index, and mandibular cortical width, are also valuable as auxiliary tools in the identification of postmenopausal females at risk, as they also correlate with BMD. Thus, it is not possible to affirm which index is the most reliable for the identification of postmenopausal females considering the literature screened. PROSPERO registration systematic review CRD42020208152.