Radiologic techniques used to evaluate the temporomandibular joint; I. Conventional methods

Symptoms of temporomandibular joint pathology are present in a relatively high proportion of the population. Conventional radiographic techniques used to evaluate the morphology of the joint provide data which may be difficult to interpret. These techniques are reviewed briefly and their interpretational shortcomings are noted. Computed tomography is currently being used by some clinicians to evaluate the joint. This technique may also yield data which are difficult to interpret. Extended processing of CT data to provide three-dimensional images of the joint enhances the technique as a means of diagnosing hard tissue pathology, but despite reports in the literature detailing its use in diagnosing soft tissue pathology, CT is not optimal for this purpose. The introduction of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging provides a means of examining the soft tissues of the joint in either two- or three-dimensional images and has the advantage over all previous techniques in that the patient is not subjected to ionizing radiation during the scan process.