Incidence of mandibular nutrient canals in a hypertensive and diabetic population: A prospective cross-sectional radiographic study

Introduction: To evaluate a possible correlation of presence of nutrient canals on radiography in hypertensive and diabetic population as compared to the normal population and whether they can be used as a diagnostic marker for these conditions. Materials and Methods: 360 IOPARSs of the mandibular anterior region were obtained from 120 age and sex-matched subjects without any systemic diseases (Group-I, control group), 120 hypertensive patients (Group-II), 120 diabetic patients (Group III). The radiographs were assessed by two interpreters for the presence or absence of nutrient canals. Statistical Analysis: The data was tabulated and analyzed with Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS 20.0). χ2-square test was done and the statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. Results: 225 out of 360 patients showed the presence of nutrient canals whereas 135 patients didn′t have nutrient canals. In Group I (control group), 69 patients showed NCs i.e. 57.5%. In Group II (Hypertensive group) showed NCs in 76 patients (63.3%) while 81 patients (67.5%) showed NCs in Group III. The differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Although the results showed a positive correlation between appearance of nutrient canals on the radiograph and the conditions, the difference was not found to be statistically significant. Therefore, it can be concluded that NCs cannot be solely relied upon as a diagnostic marker for the detection of these diseases. However, their role as a possible diagnostic aid in the future cannot be completely ruled out yet.