The utility of panoramic radiography in temporomandibular joint assessment

Abstract

Morphological condylar abnormalities are present on panoramic images in all adult age ranges, regardless of status of the dentition or presence of TMD. Condylar shape alone is not an indicator of TMD, and minor condylar discrepancies may have no significance in TMD.

Retrospective study of a series of 850 patients with temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD). Clinical and radiological findings

“…Crow et al documented osteophytic changes in 42% of their subjects without TMJD, and evident osteophytes in 7%. The same authors observed mild condyle flattening in 74% of the subjects without TMJD, and severe flattening in 15% (20). Adaptive bone remodeling can induce changes similar to those of osteoarthrosis, and this could explain the high prevalence of radiological alterations in healthy individuals.…”

Incidental findings in maxillofacial region detected by cone beam computed tomography

“…Crow et al (13) found that in panoramic radiography, there are no differences in condylar morphology between patients with and without TMJ disorders. The prevalence of condylar bone changes in orthognathic surgery patients has been reported to be 55% by transpharyngeal radiographs (14) and 35.7% by CT (15).…”

Correlating cone beam CT results with temporomandibular joint pain of osteoarthritic origin

“…8 Previous studies attempting to correlate pain intensity levels with the quality of bony changes in TMJ OA using different imaging modalities were equivocal. [9][10][11] The aim of this study is to determine whether condylar changes in TMJ OA (based on CBCT images) is correlated with pain and other clinical signs and symptoms.…”