OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to assess the relative influence of age and edentulousness upon mandibular bone mineral density (BMD) in a sample of dentate and edentulous female subjects. STUDY DESIGN:Seventy-two patients (43-79 years of age; mean age, 62.5 years), of whom 49 were edentulous and 23 dentate, underwent dual x-ray energy absorptiometry (DXA) to determine the BMD of the body of mandible. Mandibular BMD was measured using DXA. The investigators independently determined rectangular regions of interest (ROIs) on the mandibular images, and the computer calculated the BMD of these specified regions. For the dentate patients, the ROIs were placed to exclude the roots of teeth. RESULTS:A linear multiple regression model was fitted to the dependent variable, mandibular body BMD, with age and whether the patient was edentulous or dentate being explanatory factors in the statistical model. The variable describing the dentate/edentulous state was not significant in the statistical model (P = .91). The model showed that age was significantly related negatively to the BMD of the mandibular body (P = .01). CONCLUSION:Age was a predictor of mandibular BMD but edentulousness was not.