Osteoporosis Diagnostics in Dental Radiology (Panoramic Radiograph): The Mini Osteoporosis Pre-Screening (MOPS)

Background/Objectives: Osteoporosis is highly relevant to dentistry, oral surgery, and implantology. Because panoramic radiographs are routinely acquired in dental practice, they may enable opportunistic pre-screening. This pilot study evaluated established radiomorphometric indices on orthopantomograms (OPGs) and introduced a new qualitative index, the Mini Osteoporosis Pre-Screening (MOPS) index, based on the appearance of the cervical vertebral bodies visible on panoramic radiographs. Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 40 pseudonymized patient datasets, each including both OPG and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) examinations. DXA findings served as the reference standard in the study group. In addition 80 OPG scans from a control group of young adults without clinical or anamnestic evidence of osteoporosis were assessed. Two independent examiners with backgrounds in radiology and dentistry evaluated four indices: mandibular cortical width (MCW), panoramic mandibular index (PMI), mandibular cortical index (MCI), and MOPS. Results: Relative to the reference standard, MOPS demonstrated diagnostic accuracy ranging from 83% to 100% across selected groups. In women, accuracy ranged from 90% to 100%, with a sensitivity of 1.0 and specificity of 0.9. MCI and MOPS were more robust than MCW, whereas PMI showed limited applicability in routine clinical images. Conclusions: Panoramic radiographs can show osteoporosis-related changes in the mandible and cervical spine. MOPS offers a rapid, cost-neutral pre-screening method and may help dentists identify patients who warrant DXA referral. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm its clinical utility.