Carotid Artery Calcification on Orthopantomograms.

When dental x-rays are performed, there are many structures visible on the x-ray besides the teeth and jaws. One important structure that is sometimes seen is the carotid artery, which supplies blood to the brain. If this artery becomes calcified or “hardened”, it can been seen on a dental orthopantomogram (OPG). Hardening of the arteries can eventually cause these arteries to become blocked, which can lead to a stroke. Some people will have warning signs before having a stroke, but many patients are unaware that they were at risk. We are interested to see if the finding of calcified arteries on routine dental x-rays is related to narrowing of these vessels that could potentially lead to stroke. We have selected patients attending for dental x-rays. Half of the participants will have calcified carotid arteries on their OPG, and half will not have visible carotid artery calcification, to provide a comparison group. The presence or absence of calcification will be determined by the Dental Radiologist for the SA Dental Service. We will ask all study participants to attend The Queen Elizabeth Hospital on a single occasion to undergo a carotid artery ultrasound study. There is no radiation involved with a carotid ultrasound study. The ultrasound is painless, and takes about 30 minutes to perform. We expect it will take about 18 months to recruit people, and to perform all the ultrasound studies.