Comparative radiography of artificially created mandibular condyle defects

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of four radiographic techniques in demonstrating the TMJ. Mandibular condyles of a variety of sizes, as well as horizontal and vertical angulation, were selected. The location and size of the defects also varied. The mandibular condyles, in which 12 defects were created, were divided into two groups of six large and six small each. On examination of the condyles with the different defects, using each of the four radiographic techniques, the defects were localized with silver amalgam and reexamined with the radiographic techniques. The visualization of the defects was compared using the radiographs.