Fig. 1
Three dimensional (3D) computed tomography reconstruction of mandible in 5-month-old Polish Merino sheep showing the placement of the measuring scans (a). Measurement of volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) of the cortical bone (Cd) of the right and left mandibular body on cross-sectional measuring scans (b) using quantitative computed tomography (QCT). Volumetric bone mineral density of the cortical bone of mandible was measured on 2 mm thick scans positioned in the half distance of the diastema (half distance between canine (the fourth incisor) and premolar). Calcium hydroxyapatite density of the cortical bone (CbCa-HA) was measured at the same position on 10 mm thick cross-sectional measuring scan of mandible (c). Results of CbCa-HA measurements were expressed in mg of Ca-HA/ml. Geometrical parameters of the right and left mandibular body were determined on the basis of measurements of horizontal and vertical diameters (both external and internal) of the mid-diastemal cross-sections of the bone obtained from computed tomography multiplanar reconstructions (d). All these measurements were performed using Somatom Emotion Siemens scanner supplied with Somaris/5 VB10B software and Osteo CT application package (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany)