2022, Volume 15, Issue 5, pp 661 – 668

Prevalence of nutrient canals in mandibular anterior intra-oral periapical radiographs (IOPARS) in patients with chronic systemic diseases – a cross-sectional study

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Authors and Affiliations

Corresponding Author: Shamimul Hasan, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India. E-mail: shasan1@jmi.ac.in

Abstract

Nutrient canals (NCs) are passages containing neurovascular bundles (blood vessels, lymph vessels, and nerves). Best visualized on mandibular anterior intraoral periapical radiographs (IOPAR), their presence is usually associated with underlying pathological such as diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN), advanced periodontitis, calcium deficiency, tuberculosis, and disuse atrophy. This study aimed to (a) evaluate NC prevalence in patients with DM, HTN, and chronic periodontitis and (b) correlate the detection of NCs as an important preliminary screening tool for inherent systemic diseases like DM, HTN, and chronic periodontitis and as an investigative clue in age and gender determination. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 subjects. Patients with complaints of pain in the mandibular anterior teeth, deep dentinal caries, abrasion, and attrition were subjected to IOPAR of the mandibular anterior teeth region to assess NCs. An increased frequency of NCs in DM (84%), HTN (66%), and periodontitis (52%) with a significant p-value was observed. Most NCs were seen beyond the root apex (72.4%). A notable association between the duration of disease and the presence of NCs in the diabetic and hypertensive cohorts (p-value 0.047 & 0.012, respectively) was observed. However, we could not establish any association between the prevalence of nutrient canals with age and gender. Our study suggested that a higher frequency of NCs on mandibular anterior IOPAR may be employed as an ancillary screening and investigative support in underlying systemic disorders.

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About this article

PMC ID: 9262273
PubMed ID: 
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2022-0009

Article Publishing Date (print): 5 2022
Available Online: 

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.


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