Association between magnetic resonance imaging, temporo-mandibular joint scanographic findings and clinical manifestations of joint pain and sounds in temporo-mandibular disorders

Exploring the association between magnetic resonance imaging [MRI], temporomandibular joint [TMJ] scanography and clinical manifestations of joint pain and sounds in patients with temporomandibular [TM] disorder. This study included 62 TM joints with internal derangement. Sagittal scanography and MRI of these TMJs were obtained and reported blindly by the consensus of two radiologists. No significant association was observed between clinical and scanographic findings with MRI. The abnormal range of motion had significant relationship with pain [P=0.017] and sound [P=0.046]. There was a strong association between sound and condylar flattening [P=0.007]. It was demonstrated that joint pain and sounds were predictors of the abnormal range of motion in TMJ scanography. Sound could be heard more often in patients with condylar flattening, and TMJ scanographic findings as well as joint pain and sounds had limited value in the diagnosis of disk position or effusion

[Comparison of the accuracy of digital and conventional radiography in evaluation of curved canals lengths]

Proper shaping and cleaning of the root canal system is one of the most important aspects of endodontic treatment. To estimate the canal length before instrumentation in endodontic treatment, traditionally, conventional radiographic techniques and recently Direct Digital Radiography [DDR] are applied. The application of computer technology to radiography has allowed less exposure time, image acquisition, manipulation, storage, retrieval, and transmission to remote sites in a digital format, elimination of wet processing and considerable reduction in the time lapse between image acquisition and display. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of DDR versus conventional radiography in estimating endodontic file lengths of curved canals in first mandibular molars. In this test evaluation study, fourty extracted human first mandibular molars with root curvature were selected. Samples were divided into two groups: With root. Samples were mounted in plaster and more than 25 curvature less than 25 blocks and canal lengths were estimated by using DDR and conventional radiographs. Regression analysis and correlation coefficient were used to calculate statistical differences between the groups with P<0.05 as the limit of significance. Conventional radiography was more precise in canals with less than 25 degrees curvature [P=0.160]. While, DDR was more precise for canals with curvature more than 25 degrees [P=0.605]. However, these differences were not statistically significant. The image quality of DDR system has improved to the point that it can now be used for estimating canal lengths, even for curved canals, with accuracy comparable to that of conventional radiography