– What this test shows is that you have a high risk of osteoporosis, says dentist Darya Bassari at Smil dental center. Patient Elisabeth Hafslund is surprised. – I squirmed a little because I didn’t think I had it, she says. Hafslund was offered to check herself for osteoporosis because she is over 50 and a woman. The dentist just takes regular X-rays as usual and runs the images through an analysis called “Boneprox”. It is with the help of the X-ray images that artificial intelligence assesses the risk of osteoporosis. Photo: Hans-Kristian Rangnes / news Better for society and the patient Around one third of women over 50 suffer from osteoporosis. A hip fracture costs the state NOK 1 million and 10,000 Norwegians break their hip every year. Now the dentists hope that this low-threshold way of checking for bone fragility will help bring the numbers down. – Detecting osteoporosis at a much earlier stage not only benefits the individual, but also society, says Alireza Sorodi, general manager at Smil dental centre. OFFER FOR FREE: The general manager at Smil tannlegesenter has introduced the analysis at his five dental clinics. Photo: Hans-Kristian Rangnes / news He offers this at his five dental clinics in Oslo. It costs nothing extra for the patient. It also does not take much extra time for the dentist. Osteoporosis in the family The analysis uses artificial intelligence to check for signs of osteoporosis. It is all based on a large EU research project, the Osteodent study. Several dentists across the country have introduced the analysis. Hafslund has brittle bones in the family, has broken a few toes recently and was happy that she could combine that with the annual check-up. – That was the reason why I wanted to come. I put off checking it for a long time, but the fact that it was made so easily available together with the annual check-up of the teeth meant that the threshold was lowered, she says. Dentist Bassari asked Hafslund to ask the GP for a referral to CT. It’s not just cleaning the teeth and drilling at the dentist anymore. Photo: Hans-Kristian Rangnes / news Advises the analysis Bente Brokstad Herlofson is a professor at the Department of Clinical Dentistry at the University of Oslo. She researches and treats patients with side effects of medications that affect bone formation in the body. Herlofson is a dentist himself and is skeptical that dentists risk assess patients’ bone mass. – It is very positive if dentists can play a greater role for public health, but it must be anchored. The doctors here, as far as I know, have not been involved and they should have been. She says that, as far as she knows, this is not a validated, recognized and established method. She says more studies are needed. Herlofson reacts to the dentist telling the patient that she should get a CT referral. – I believe that the dentists should leave the investigation of bone fragility to the doctors, says Herlofson. She discourages patients from going to the dentist to do this. Finally, she says that close collaboration between the health professions is very important and necessary. Going forward, they will have to deal with an aging population that is living longer and will have a greater need for holistic health care. Go directly to the GP Orthopedist Lene Solberg is head of the board of the specialist group for osteoporosis and bone health in the Norwegian Orthopedic Association. She agrees with Herlofson and thinks this is completely unnecessary. SKEPTICAL: Lene Solberg in the Medical Association. Photo: Private – Don’t go around the dentist. In any case, they cannot provide you with an examination and treatment. Go to your GP directly if you suspect you have osteoporosis, says Solberg. She points out that it is far from all osteoporosis patients that you can see the disease in the jaw, since the jaw is modeled differently to the rest of the body. – Here you can get a false sense of security that you are not brittle, but then you are anyway, says the orthopedist. Dentist Darya Bassari advises Elisabeth Hafslund to see a doctor. Photo: Hans-Kristian Rangnes / news Disagree with the criticism The developer of the software “Boneprox” tells news that they disagree with the criticism. They claim that several doctors became involved and today have collaborations with several private actors. They deny that they give patients false security. – We do not make a diagnosis, but give an indication of how the patient’s bone quality is, says Theodor Remman in Boneprox. For Elisabeth Hafslund, it was a good experience. Now that she knows, she hopes she can be a little careful. – It was nice to have it checked. I hope that since this was discovered early, I will avoid a lot of trouble, says Hafslund.
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Elisabeth is checked for brittle bones at the dentist – experts very critical – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
