CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to bone fragility and an increased susceptibility to fractures; the early stage of decreased density is called osteopenia. More than 200 million people are affected and about 50% of post-menopausic women are expected to develope the disease. Osteoporosis, osteopenia and periodontal disease have in common several risk factors, being hiperthyroidism and smoking habits the most important ones. There is scarse information in the literature about the association between periodontal disease and osteoporosis and/or osteopenia. Some works suggest that osteoporotic women are susceptible to a higher loss of periodontal insertion, alveolar bones and teeth. Thirty adult post menopausical women were studied; some of them were healthy (control group) and the rest of them were undergoing some stage of osteoporosis or osteopenia. All of the subjects were healthy , non-smokers, not having dental implants and with communitarian periodontal index higher than 1 (CPI>1). Samples of saliva and gingival crevice fluid were extrated with calibrated micro-capillaries and deposited on Si reflectors. Known amounts of Ga were added to the samples in order to act as an internal standard for quantification by the total reflection x ray fluorescence technique. Experimental concentrations of several elements (P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn) were determined. The concentration of some elements in saliva showed different behavior as compared to gingival crevice fluid. Some critical elements of bone composition, such as Ca and Zn, present very distinguishable behavior. Improvements in the statistics are required for a better assessment of a routine method and to establish some correlation with periodontal disease. TXRF seems to be a promising method to evaluate the evolution of osteoporosis.