MAXILLOFACIAL IMAGING


MAXILLOFACIAL IMAGING
SHARON L. BROOKS, DDS, MS
▼ SELECTION CRITERIA ▼ IMAGING MODALITIES AVAILABLE IN DENTAL
OFFICES AND CLINICS
Intraoral and Panoramic Radiography Digital Imaging Conventional Tomography
▼ IMAGING MODALITIES AVAILABLE IN HOSPITALS AND RADIOLOGY CLINICS
Computed Tomography Magnetic Resonance Imaging Ultrasonography Nuclear Medicine Contrast-Enhanced Radiography
▼ IMAGING PROTOCOLS
Orofacial Pain Disease Entities Affecting Salivary Glands Jaw Lesions
▼ BENEFITS AND RISKS


The role of imaging in oral medicine varies greatly with the type of problem being evaluated. Certain problems, such as pain in the orofacial region, frequently require imaging to determine the origin of the pain. For other conditions, however, such as soft-tissue lesions of the oral mucosa, imaging offers no new diagnostic information.
The variety of imaging techniques available to the clinician has grown in number and in degree of sophistication over the years. While this means that there is an imaging procedure that will provide the information desired by the clinician, it also means that choosing the best technique is not necessarily an easy process.
This chapter first explores the underlying principles the clinician should consider when deciding whether imaging is appropriate for the case in question and then discusses the imaging techniques that are available in dental offices and in referral imaging centers. Examples of specific imaging protocols are then described, followed by a discussion of risk-benefit analysis of imaging in oral medicine.