Examination of the effects of menopause on the quality and quantity of intraoral autogenous block graft donor sites using cone beam computed tomography

Menopause causes the menstrual cycle to end and the beneficial effects of estrogen on health to disappear. One of these losses is the rapid weakening of bones. Estrogen deficiency leads to decreased bone density and an increased risk of osteoporosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the change in the graft volume that can be obtained from intraoral autogenous graft donor sites and the bone density of these grafts in Hounsfield units during the postmenopausal period. The data of patients whose Cone Beam Computed Tomography images were obtained at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology of Dicle University were retrospectively analyzed. CBCT imaging of all evaluated patients was performed with i-CAT (Imaging Sciences International, Hatfield, USA), which is in use at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Dicle University. The data of 60 female patients aged 20-40 years and over 55 years without any pathology in the ramus, tuber, symphysis regions, with second molars and lower incisors in the mouth but without third molars, without pathology in the relevant regions and without generalized vertical or horizontal bone loss were analyzed. The donor site boundaries for ramus autogenous graft were determined starting from 2 mm distal to the second molar in front, the first section where the ramus could be fully visualized in the posterior, 2 mm above the inferior alveolar nerve in the inferior, and 2 mm lateral to the inferior alveolar nerve in the medial. The donor site boundaries for tuber autogenous graft consist of 2 mm distal to the second molar in front, the junction of the maxilla with the pterygoid bone in the back and the sinus floor above. The donor site boundaries for symphyseal autogenous graft were determined 5 mm below the apex of the canine teeth above, the pogonion point below, 5 mm in front of the mental foramen on the sides and the lingual cortex medially. As a result of the examinations, it was observed that both volume and density values decreased in ramus and tuber donor sites in postmenopausal women. There was no significant difference in the symphysis donor site in postmenopausal women.