Prevalence of Soft Tissue Calcifications in CBCT Images of Mandibular Region

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Most of the soft tissue calcifications within the head and neck region might not be accompanied by clinical symptoms but may indicate some pathological conditions. PURPOSE The aim of this research was to determine the prevalence of soft tissue calcifications in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of mandibular region. MATERIALS AND METHOD In this cross sectional study the CBCT images of 602 patients including 294 men and 308 women with mean age 41.38±15.18 years were evaluated regarding the presence, anatomical location; type (single or multiple) and size of soft tissue calcification in mandibular region. All CBCT images were acquired by NewTom VGi scanner. Odds ratio and chi-square tests were used for data analysis and p< 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS 156 out of 602 patients had at least one soft tissue calcification in their mandibular region (25.9%. of studied population with mean age 51.7±18.03 years). Men showed significantly higher rate of soft tissue calcification than women (30.3% vs. 21.8%). Soft tissue calcification was predominantly seen at posterior region of the mandible (88%) and most of them were single (60.7%). The prevalence of soft tissue calcification increased with age. Most of the detected soft tissue calcifications were smaller than 3mm (90%). CONCLUSION Soft tissue calcifications in mandibular area were a relatively common finding especially in posterior region and more likely to happen in men and in older age group.