Liverdos K, Karanikola Th, Parissis N.K.
Stoma 2004; 32: 237-46.
Abstract:
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or magnetic resonance tomography is a technique that produces images without the use of ionizing radiation. The basic principles of MRI are based on the behavior of protons in a magnetic field. The MRI technique has many advantages, like the fact that ionizing radiation is not used, the excellent imaging of soft tissues and the excellent differentiation between different tissues and between normal and abnormal tissues, and some disadvantages like the high cost of the necessary equipment, the long time of the scanning procedure and the lack of signal from hard tissues like cortical bone and teeth. MRI is contraindicated for patients with electrically, magnetically, or mechanically activated implants (e.g. cardiac pacemakers, cochlear implants). Generally, MRI is considered to be a safe imaging technique, which finds many uses in the field of dentistry and in the oral and maxillofacial region. Some of them are the evaluation of inflammatory and neoplastic lesions, the staging of tumors, the assessment of intracranial lesions, the evaluation of the bony and soft tissue components of the temporomandibular joint including the disc position for evidence of internal derangement and the presurgical assessment for the placement of dental implants and for sinus lift operation.
