Clinical correlation of oral-dental findings with radiographs and with total body bone scans

Bone scans are frequently used to detect osteoblastic areas in bone, including bony metastases in patients with existing tumors. Various dental conditions have been found to cause areas in the jaws to have increased uptake of radiopharmaceuticals. We studied 30 patients with an existing cancer or previous history of cancer with the use of total body bone scans, panoramic radiographs, and dental examinations, and we found no correlation between the intensity of radionuclide uptake in the jaws on the bone scans and the number of teeth in each jaw, the age of the patient, the degree of periodontal disease, or the number of dental pathoses per jaw. The frequency and intensity of positive scan results were related to the presence or absence of intrabony lesions in the jaws. Dental disease therefore does not appear to mask metastatic disease in the jaws; however, when metastasis is suspected, a dental examination with radiographs is recommended.