Objective: The number of patients with renal failure who require dialysis is growing by 10% to 15% annually, and the likelihood for dentists to treat such patients is also increasing in parallel. These patients are at risk for systemic atherosclerosis that could be demonstrated especially in the cervical portion of the carotid arteries. Present study is focused on the determination of carotid artery calcification on panoramic radiographs in patients on renal replacement procedures hemodialysis and renal transplantation. Method: The study was conducted on a total of 69 nephrology patients (34 with hemodialysis and 35 with renal transplants). Panoramic radiographs were taken from all subjects. Calcifications observed on panoramic films were noted down as unilateral or bilateral. Measure of agreement test was used statistically to establish intra and inter-examiner calibration between the three examiners. Results: In renal transplant recipients, 17.14% of subjects had carotid artery calcification (5 patients had bilateral and 1 patient had unilateral), that was 20.58% (5 patient had bilateral and 2 had unilateral) in hemodialysis patients. Conclusions: Panoramic radiography (PR) is a simple and non-invasive method to predict vascular calcifications in carotid arteries. Vascular calcifications illustrated on PR might be a determinant or an early sign of stroke in nephrology patients carrying high risk for atherosclerosis. Examination of those calcifications costs less and seems to be useful for screening carotid disease, although definitive testing must follow.

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