Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Dentistry

Nihal Ozdil Yetimoglu; KÃ„Â±vanç Kamburoglu

doi:10.4172/2167-7964.1000e125

ISSN:2167-7964

OMICS Journal of Radiology

Make the best use of Scientific Research and information from our 700+ peer reviewed, Open Access Journals that operates with the help of 50,000+ Editorial Board Members and esteemed reviewers and 1000+ Scientific associations in Medical, Clinical, Pharmaceutical, Engineering, Technology and Management Fields.

Meet Inspiring Speakers and Experts at our 3000+ Global Conferenceseries Events with over 600+ Conferences, 1200+ Symposiums and 1200+ Workshops on Medical, Pharma, Engineering, Science, Technology and Business

Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Dentistry

Nihal Ozdil Yetimoglu and K�?±vanç Kamburoglu^*
Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Ankara University, Turkey
Corresponding Author :	Kivanç Kamburoglu Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology Faculty of Dentistry, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey Tel: 90-312-296-5632 E-mail: kamburogluk@dentistry.ankara.edu.tr
Received January 26, 2014; Accepted January 28, 2014; Published January 30, 2014
Citation: Yetimoglu NO, Kamburoglu K (2014) Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Dentistry. OMICS J Radiology 3:e125. doi: 10.4172/2167-7964.1000e125
Copyright: © 2013 Kunos CA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Visit for more related articles at OMICS Journal of Radiology

View PDF Download PDF

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a powerful and versatile imaging modality utilizied in various medical fields. With the emergence of commercial medical MRI in the 1980s, several MRI applications, such as cardiac, abdominal, and cranial, started to evolve medical diagnostic imaging. Three-dimensional MRI assessment of morphology and function without ionizing radiation attracted attention in dental applications during 1980s [1]. Dental applications of MRI, however; was sparse compared to other medical applications. Most work in the field of dental MRI aimed at imaging soft tissues, testing the potential of implant planning [1], and imaging of the morphology and function of the temporo mandibular joint [2].

MRI has not been commonly used for oral and ï»¿maxillofacial imagingï»¿ because the acquisition of the sequences can be negatively influenced by motion of the body, respiration, air in the oral cavity and nasal cells, implants and metal materials [3]. However, the utilization of MRI, enabled evaluation of spatial relationship between anatomic structures and intraosseous jaw lesions when CT imaging can not provide clear depiction of the mandibular canal. MRI can also be useful to the typing of different expansive lesions, and to evaluate the possible infiltration of the soft tissue [3].

Also, Dynamic Contrast Enhanced (DCE) Magnetic Resonance Ä°maging (MRI), in which multiphase MRI scans are taken following the intravenous injection of a contrast agent, has been widely used in clinical practice. Asaumi et al. [4] demonstrated that DCE-MRI features of odontogenic myxomas are different from those of ameloblastomas and that a very slow gradual increase of Signal Ä°ntensity (SI) is characteristic of odontogenic myxomas. The utility of the DCEMRI in the differential diagnosis of salivary gland tumors, and lesions in the jaw bone was reported [4].

High-resolution anatomical detail is a feature for TMJ imaging. MRI may assist the clinician in determining whether primary or delayed treatment is indicated in cases of trauma to the TMJ. The saggital and coronal MRI of TMJ articulation are complimentary, and is important for a full assessment of joint dysfunction [5]. Using high-field strength surface coil MRI specific changes associated with disc derangement, trauma and previous surgery can be illustrated. In addition, the presence of soft tissue ingrowths, fibrosis and joint effusions can be determined [5]. Gadolinium may be used as a contrast agent in order to detect pannus formation in active rheumatoid or other inflammatory arthritis [5]. High-contrast sensitivity of MRI to tissue differences and the absence of ionizing radiation are the reasons why MRI has replaced CT for imaging soft tissue in patients with inflammatory arthritides, MRI has been shown to demonstrate disc destruction.

For a successful restorative treatment mapping of the shape of dental cavities is needed. MRI has been used in research of healthy and decayed teeth during last decade [6]. Several papers were presented showing usefulness of Spin Echo (SE) and Gradient Echo (GE) imaging, Single Point Ä°maging (SPI), SPRITE and STRAFI techniques for visualization of the dental surface geometry as well as for distinction between soft tissue (pulp) and mineralized tissue (enamel, dentine and root cement) in the extracted teeth. An important aspect of the MRI measurements is to obtain high contrast between the cavities and the tooth. This may be achieved by filling cavities with water or water solution of paramagnetic ions having high MR signal [7]. In addition to the caries visualization, dental MRI enables simultaneous imaging of the tooth pulp and can thus provide valuable information about relative location of the pulp and lesion in three spatial dimensions [2]. Authors demonstrated the feasibility of high resolution dental MRI to visualize and quantify carious lesions, including approximal lesions and occult dentin lesions, and measure the minimum distance to the dental pulp in vivo on a clinical 1.5 T MRI scanner [2]. Also, the ability of the ZTE which is a technique that robustly provide high-resolution high-quality images of samples with very short-T2 is very promising [7].

Bracher et al. [8] demonstrated the applicability of 3D UTE MRI for the identification of caries lesions. The direct comparison to the clinical standard radiograph and conventional spin-echo imaging reveals at least a similar sensitivity of 3D UTE MRI to X-rays and clearly shows the limitations of conventional spin-echo techniques, especially for the identification of small lesions. Limitations of 3D UTE owing to metal artefacts caused by dental fillings were less severe than expected [8].