Assessment of Bone Mineral Density in Type 2 Diabetes: A Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) Study

Introduction The main purpose of the study was to assess and compare bone mineral density (BMD) at prospective implant sites in the mandible in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and non-diabetic patients using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Material and methodology A total of 40 patients were included in this type of cross-sectional study. They were divided into two groups, A and B, according to their haemoglobin A1c values. Group A consisted of patients with HbA1c between the range of 6.1%-8% and group B had patients with no history of T2DM. CBCT scans were made of the mandibular arches of both the patients to evaluate the BMD at lingual and buccal cortical plates and the trabecular regions in two successive slices with the assistance of PlanMeca Romexis software (PlanMeca Romexis®, Helsinki, Finland). The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to determine the normality of continuous data. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the groups. Results There were no differences that were statistically significant between the two cohorts according to the Mann-Whitney U test at buccal cortical plate points 1 and 2. However, the diabetes group's mean bone density at implant sites-A, B, C, D, and E at trabeculae points 1 and 2 was considerably (7p>0.001) lower than the non-diabetic groups. The mean bone density of the diabetes group was marginally but significantly (p=0.009) lower than the non-diabetic group at lingual cortical plates. Conclusion Individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus show significantly lower bone mineral density in the lingual cortical plate and trabecular region, however, implant therapy can be performed with certain mentioned guidelines in such regions. In the buccal cortical region, the bone mineral density is seen to be unaffected.