Evaluation of mandibular bone quality and microarchitecture in children with type 1 diabetes with fractal analysis and radiomorphometric indexes

The aim of our study was to evaluate the mandibular bone quality and microarchitecture of children with Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) between the ages of 6-15 years using fractal analysis and radiomorphometric indices and to compare them with healthy children. Our study is a single-center cross-sectional retrospective study using dental panoramic radiographs. The mandibular cortical index (MCI), mental index (MI), panoramic mandibular index (PMI) results were evaluated in 39 children with T1DM and 39 healthy children using dental panoramic radiographs and fractal dimension (FD) analysis of six different regions (condyle, angulus, interdental) was performed. Data were analyzed with IBM SPSS 25. The MCI distribution in children with T1DM was similar to the control group (p>0.05). The MI values in children with T1DM were similar to the control group (p>0.05). The mean PMI values in TIDM patients were found to be statistically higher than the control group (p=0.021). Mean FD angulus values were found to be statistically higher in TIDM patients than in the control group (p=0.010). Trabecular bone microarchitecture and bone quality of children with T1DM are similar to healthy children. We believe that MI is the most reliable index to direct patients to advanced imaging with DEXA in the preliminary diagnosis of osteoporosis.