Objective: The objective was to evaluate the ultrasonography (USG) images and reports in dental and maxillofacial radiology clinic, to reveal USG usage, and to draw attention to the diagnostic contribution of USG in necessary cases. Materials and Methods: USG archive has been reviewed retrospectively. One hundred and eleven USG examinations reported in our clinic between 2016 and 2020 were included in the study. USG patients consisted of 57 males and 54 females and their mean age was 38.76 ± 18.60. Results: The use of USG in the dental radiology clinic was not satisfactory since only 111 USG examinations were detected. Extraoral USG was used in 64.9%, intraoral USG in 28.8%, and both extraoral and intraoral USG in 6.3% of patients. The most frequently used areas of USG were lymph node examinations (26.1%), mucosal lesions (18.9%), salivary gland pathologies (16.2%), abscesses (10.8%), nasolabial cysts (4.5%), masseter hypertrophy (2.7%), palatal masses (2.7%), and others (6.3%). Conclusion: Despite advantages of USG in soft-tissue pathologies and even in some jaw pathologies, its use in dental radiology is limited. Dental and maxillofacial radiologists should improve themselves in the use of USG and follow the developments and also should be aware of the benefits that

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Cystic lesions of the jaws are usually present as single lesions. Rarely, they can occur as multiple cysts occupying more than one quadrant of the jaws. It can be then part of a syndrome. Gorlin–Goltz syndrome is an autosomal dominant inherited condition comprising the principal triad of basal cell carcinomas, multiple jaw keratocysts, and skeletal anomalies. It is a syndrome of particular interest to the oral and maxillofacial health experts. Especially that the presence of jaw cysts is the early diagnostic feature of this syndrome, and this can be incidentally identified by routine dental radiographs. It is therefore important to know the main clinical and especially radiological features of this rare syndrome. The case presented is about a patient aged 24 who presented with multiple odontogenic keratocysts as the first signs of a Gorlin Goltz syndrome, that was later confirmed by other signs.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Background: Injury to the inferior alveolar nerve can occur during surgical removal of the mandibular third molars (M3Ms), resulting in numbness of the mandibular teeth, chin, and lower lip. This occurs when the roots of M3M compress the inferior alveolar canal (IAC) against the lingual cortical plate. Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) reveals the buccolingual relationship of the IAC and M3M, but the panoramic radiograph (PR) has not been evaluated to determine whether the plane film can reveal this relationship. Aims: The aim of the study is to determine whether PR could predict buccal or lingual IAC position or compression near M3M. Design: This retrospective study evaluated 200 M3M sites in 42 women and 67 men, aged 17–28 years. Ninety-one bilateral measurements were taken; 98 left and 102 right halves were analyzed. Methods: IAC position and degree of compression were interpreted from the CBCT. Utilizing imaging software, 13 different measurements were obtained. Statistical Analyses: Fisher's exact test, t-test, principal component analysis, and multivariate analysis were utilized. Results: Male and female canal positions significantly differed. Canal position was significantly different comparing partially erupted to erupted and fully bony impacted molars. Lingual canal position, versus buccal, was more frequently associated with moderate-to-severe IAC compression. “Anterior-posterior ramus at the occlusal plane” and “anterior ramus to anterior IAC at the occlusal plane” contributed most to the severity of IAC compression. Conclusion: The variables evaluated did not identify a significant relationship. A larger data set is needed to evaluate any role the dimension of the ramus has on IAC compression.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Background: There can be variability between observer's opinions when reading radiographic images. Aims: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate inter-observer agreement and inter-imaging accuracy regarding radiological signs of local dentoalveolar bone loss and apical radiolucency on sinonasal computed tomography (CT) images and Panoramic tomography (PTG) images. Materials and Methods: Imaging data of 59 patients with oral maxillofacial or sinonasal diseases were used. Radiological signs of local dentoalveolar bone loss and apical radiolucency were analyzed blinded. Using Cohen's kappa statistic the reproducibility of the findings between the oral radiologist and three other observers were compared. Inter-imaging accuracy was calculated, based on the records by the oral radiologist. Results: Inter-observer agreement between the oral radiologist and the three different professionals was from poor (kappa - 0.054) to moderate (kappa 0.455) with PTG and CT scans. Inter-imaging accuracy was moderate (0.565) to very good (0.908). Conclusions: This study showed a large diagnostic variation between the oral radiologist and the three professional observers in recording signs of local dentoalveolar bone loss and periapical radiolucency. This finding indicates that before final treatment plan of the patient, multi-professional consultation is recommended. PTG may not be as reliable imaging method as CT.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

Background: Quantitative evaluation of radiolucent and radiopaque is difficult for intraoral radiography. Aims: This study was designed to estimate quantitative periapical radiography using computer-assisted measurement for intraoral projections. Materials and Methods: Ten patients with periapical inflammatory disease of the mandibular molar region were analyzed using a computer-assisted measurement for intraoral projections. The system measures the image density and calculates the bone mineral density (BMD) of an optional region. The periapical region of mandibular molars was compared to the sclerotic bone reaction resulting from the periapical inflammatory disease with the normal periapical region. P < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The BMD of the sclerotic bone reaction resulting from the periapical inflammatory disease (1.14 ± 0.08 g/cm²) were significantly higher than those of the normal periapical region (0.94 ± 0.06 g/cm², P = 0.000). Conclusions: The computer-assisted measurement for intraoral projections can be useful for quantitative periapical radiography.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

The present work aims to produce a simple protocol, which can be integrated into the services provided by dental school in the Northern of Brazil to avoid contamination against COVID-19. A bibliographic search was carried out in the MEDLINE (National Library of Medicine, USA-NLM) database, with the keywords COVID-19 and biosafety dentistry. The inclusion criteria were articles in their full and free versions available for download. Proposed protocol for dental radiology recommends the cleaning and adequate protection of equipment and surfaces, personal protective measures, which may be obtained by simple procedures such as cleaning and covering of materials and equipment with plastic barriers. Infection control protocol in the dental radiology proposes simple and effective measures for to minimize the potential for disease transmission including COVID-19.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]