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.