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Aim: Periodontitis proxy variables enable an expansion of periodontal research. The study aimed to estimate the validity of questionnaire items and registry data in relation to Stage III–IV periodontitis and having 50% bone loss.

Methods: Malmö Offspring Dental Study (MODS) participants (995) filled out questionnaires and underwent periodontal and panoramic radiography examinations. The questionnaire items, number of periodontal treatment procedures (PTP) in the Dental Health Register (DHR), and number of teeth with ≥ 6 mm probing depth in the Swedish Quality Register for Caries and Periodontal Disease (SKaPa) were evaluated as proxies for severe periodontitis. Stage III–IV periodontitis was the primary reference standard.

Results: For PTP-based severe periodontitis proxy in DHR, positive predictive value (PPV) was 88% and negative predictive value (NPV) 87% for Stage III–IV. The SKaPa-based proxy showed poor positive predictive values (PPVs, < 70%), but similar area under the curve (AUC), 0.74, compared with the DHR data (AUC 0.76). Sensitivity was < 70%, and specificity > 90% for the DHR and SKaPa proxies. Identification of cases with periodontitis by questionnaire combined with the demographic variables age, sex, smoking habits and education yielded good discriminatory ability (AUC > 0.75).

Conclusion: Register-based data can effectively identify individuals with severe periodontitis in large cohort studies, thereby advancing periodontal research.

Objective: The aim was to optimize diagnostics for carotid artery calcifications (CACs) on panoramic radiographs (PRs) to identify cardiovascular disease (CVD) by investigating how 4 defined CAC shapes are associated with ultrasound (US) findings indicating CVD.

Study Design: The study included 414 participants (802 neck sides) from the Malmö Offspring Dental Study, examined with PRs. The PRs were assessed for CAC shapes stratified into 4 categories: single, scattered, vessel-width defining, and vessel-outlining. The carotid arteries were examined with US for signs of CVD: the presence of plaques, largest individual area of a plaque, number of plaques, and percentage reduction of the lumen. Associations between the different CAC categories and US characteristics were analyzed.

Results: All categories of CAC were significantly associated with a higher degree of US findings indicating CVD compared with no CAC (P < .001). The most significant differences were found for vessel-outlining CAC, with the mean of the largest individual plaque area of 17.9 vs 2.3 mm2, mean number of plaques 1.6 vs 0.2, and mean percentage reduction of the lumen 24.1% vs 3.5% (all P < .001).

Conclusions: Independent of shape, CACs detected on PRs were associated with a higher degree of US findings of CVD. This was most pronounced for vessel-outlining CAC. With refined differential diagnostics of CACs in PRs, dentists may contribute to improved identification of patients in need of cardiovascular prevention.

The aims of this study were; i) to determine the accuracy by which two intra-oral radiographic examinations performed on patients with edentulous mandibles treated with dental implants can be matched. ii) to determine whether prosthodontic supra-construction is important for matching. iii) to investigate whether there is a difference between oral and maxilla-facial radiologists (OMR) and dental practitioners, not specialized in oral and maxillofacial radiology (NOMR), regarding their ability to match. The specific features of the radiographs used by the operators to acquire a match were also investigated. Intra-oral radiographic examinations from 59 patients were utilized. Radiographic examinations from 47 patients carried out at placement of the supra-construction and at subsequent follow-up examinations were used as "ante-mortem" and "post-mortem" records respectively. Examinations from 12 patients were added to the "post-mortem" records without "ante-mortem" records being available. The study was divided into two parts. In Part One all "ante"- and "post-mortem" records had the supra-construction masked and in Part Two it was visible. Seven dentists (4 OMR, 3 NOMR) were instructed to specify on what basis each matching was made on the confidence of a three-graded scale OMR had 93.2 % and 98.5 % accuracy in Parts One and Two respectively. NOMR had 63.8 % and 87.9 %. Bone anatomy was the most commonly used feature by OMR to obtain a match. For NOMR it was the appearance of the fixtures. OMR reported higher confidence in their ability to match the examinations. This study indicates that OMR could be a valuable resource in cases of identification where dental implants are a feature of the post-mortem dental records.