Quantitative assessment of bone density changes in spontaneously healing mandibular lesions
1Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology & National Center for Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & National Engineering Research Center of Oral Biomaterials and Digital Medical Devices, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Beijing, China.
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This study quantified bone mineral density (BMD) of regenerated bone in mandibular cystic defects following enucleation using quantitative computed tomography. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 126 computed tomography scans from 81 patients to measure BMD during bone healing. Linear mixed models and Spearman's rank-order correlation were applied to investigate associations between BMD and patient age, gender, cavity size, condylar BMD, and cavity healing percentage. Regenerated bone BMD increased significantly during the first six months postoperatively, with median values of 245 mg/cm3 at 3 months and 326 mg/cm3 at 6 months, after which the rate of increase slowed. Initial cavity volume was negatively associated with regenerated bone BMD. The association between condylar BMD and regenerated bone BMD was time-dependent, with a significant positive association observed at 12 months. These findings indicate that mandibular bone density rises rapidly during early postoperative healing, providing a reference for monitoring bone regeneration and planning follow-up.
