Association of testosterone and bone mineral density with tooth loss in men with chronic periodontitis

Abstract

A study was conducted to compare the mean testosterone and bone mineral density (BMD) levels in men with and without tooth loss. Two hundred three male subjects aged 30-65 years satisfying the study criteria were selected and then examined for bone mineral density, testosterone level, clinical attachment loss, probing pocket depth, tooth mobility and tooth loss due to periodontal disease. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 15.0) (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Ill, USA), and differences were considered to be significant at P < 0.05. Independent sample "t" test was used to compare the results, and receiver-operator curve (ROC) analysis was performed to obtain the cut-off. The mean testosterone level in subjects without tooth loss was 4.41 ± 2.57, whereas that in subjects with tooth loss was 2.79 ± 1.15 (P = 0.001). The mean BMD in subjects without tooth loss was 0.99 ± 0.13, whereas that in subjects with tooth loss was 0.96 ± 0.12 (P = 0.046). The testosterone level and BMD in subjects with tooth loss were significantly lower than those in subjects without tooth loss. Testosterone is a good predictor of tooth loss, but its efficiency decreases with increasing tooth loss. BMD is not a good predictor of tooth loss.