Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Soft Tissue Calcifications in the Head and Neck Region Detected on Panoramic Radiographs.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to present a comparison between panoramic radiographs and USG imaging with a focus on revealing the advantages of USG over radiographs, and to show the distribution of calcifications detected in USG by considering the age and gender. METHODS: A total of 148 patients with soft tissue calcifications as seen on panoramic radiographs were examined with USG imaging. Sialoliths, carotid artery calcifications, tonsilloliths, phleboliths and lymph node calcifications were examined in terms of anatomical localization, distribution and shape. RESULTS: In the USG evaluation of these 148 patients, soft tissue calcifications were observed in 113 (76.4%) patients. The mean age of the patients with calcification was 55.6 ± 13.1 (min: 22-max: 77). Bilateral calcifications were detected in 25 (22.1%) patients, whereas unilateral calcifications were found in 88 (77.9%) patients. While the rates of tonsilloliths, sialoliths, phleboliths, and lymph node calcifications were statistically similar in male and female patients, the rate of carotid artery calcifications was found to be higher in men than in women (P = 0.017). No statistical significance was found between age groups in terms of the formation of soft tissue calcifications (P = 0.117). CONCLUSIONS: Panoramic radiographs may mislead clinicians in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of soft tissue calcifications in the head and neck region due to the presence of distortion, superpositions, metal artefacts, and ghost images. USG is an important diagnostic tool in determining the localization of soft tissue calcifications that can be confused on two-dimensional radiographs, their relationship with neighboring structures, and defining calcification. It can be used safely in the detection of soft tissue calcifications as it provides dynamic imaging without the use of radiation or contrast material compared to other advanced imaging methods.

A Deep Learning Model for Idiopathic Osteosclerosis Detection on Panoramic Radiographs.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to create an artificial intelligence (AI) system for detecting idiopathic osteosclerosis (IO) on panoramic radiographs for automatic, routine, and simple evaluations. SUBJECT AND METHODS: In this study, a deep learning method was carried out with panoramic radiographs obtained from healthy patients. A total of 493 anonymized panoramic radiographs were used to develop the AI system (CranioCatch, Eskisehir, Turkey) for the detection of IOs. The panoramic radiographs were acquired from the radiology archives of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Eskisehir Osmangazi University. GoogLeNet Inception v2 model implemented with TensorFlow library was used for the detection of IOs. Confusion matrix was used to predict model achievements. RESULTS: Fifty IOs were detected accurately by the AI model from the 52 test images which had 57 IOs. The sensitivity, precision, and F-measure values were 0.88, 0.83, and 0.86, respectively. CONCLUSION: Deep learning-based AI algorithm has the potential to detect IOs accurately on panoramic radiographs. AI systems may reduce the workload of dentists in terms of diagnostic efforts.

Evaluation of the lateral pterygoid muscle area, attachment type, signal intensity and presence of arthrosis, effusion in the TMJ according to the position of the articular disc.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the lateral pterygoid muscle (LPM) area, attachment type, signal intensity and presence of arthrosis, effusion in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) according to the position of the articular disc. METHODS: The study included a total of 126 TMJs belonging to 69 patients over the age of 18 years who had MRI due to TMJ complaints. The position of the articular disc, the area, attachment type, and signal intensity of the LPM, the presence of arthrosis on the condyle surface, and the presence of effusion in the joint space were evaluated. RESULTS: The attachment type of the LPM did not show a statistically significant difference according to the position of the articular disc. The groups were not statistically different in terms of LPM intensity. Although the distribution of the LPM area was found to be low in the anterior disc displacement with reduction (R+DD) group and high in the anterior disc displacement without reduction (R-DD) group. It was determined that the rate of arthrosis at the condyle head was significantly higher in the R-DD group compared to the normal disc position group. The incidence of effusion was found significantly higher in the R-DD and R+DD groups than joints with normal disc position. CONCLUSIONS: Pathological changes in LPM and TMJ can be detected by MRI. In the group with R-DD, the rate of arthrosis at the condyle head, effusion, LPM area, and intensity of the Sup. LPM were higher.

Evaluation the relationship between the position and impaction level of the impacted maxillary third molar teeth and marginal bone loss, caries and resorption findings of the second molar teeth with CBCT scans.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between the position and impaction level of the impacted maxillary third molar teeth and marginal bone loss, caries and resorption findings on the distal surface of the second molar teeth with cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT) scans. METHODS: All CBCT images of 189 impacted maxillary teeth belonging to 121 patients were examined by an observer. After determining the position and impaction level of the impacted maxillary third molar teeth, presence of caries, resorption and marginal bone loss in the distal of the second molar tooth were evaluated. IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 (IBM Corp. Released 2013. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.) was used for statistical analyses and calculations. Data were analysed using the Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was found in terms of the impaction level of the impacted maxillary third molar tooth and the presence of caries in the distal surface of the second molar tooth, in terms of the impaction level of the impacted third molar tooth and the presence of marginal bone loss in the distal surface of the second molar tooth. A similar difference was found in terms of the impaction level of the impacted third molar tooth and the presence of root resorption in the distal surface of the second molar tooth. CONCLUSION: These data on the natural history of impacted maxillary third molars may contribute to both more accurate estimates of the risk of complications associated with these teeth and determination of the prophylactic approach to asymptomatic impacted third molars.

Cone beam computed tomography evaluation of sphenoid sinus in different sagittal skeletal pattern.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore sphenoid sinus variations in individuals with various sagittal skeletal anomalies using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and methods: We retrospectively analyzed sphenoid sinus pneumatization on CBCT images of 126 patients aged 18-86 years. The anteroposterior skeletal relationships of the maxilla and mandible were classified as skeletal class I, II or III using the A point-nasion-B point (ANB) angle measured in the sagittal plane. The extensions of the sphenoid sinus were evaluated on three planes including axial, sagittal and coronal sections. Results: The study population consisted of 84 females (66.7%) and 42 males (33.3%), including 52 (41.3%) class I, 38 (30.1%) class II, and 36 (28.6%) class III cases. The conchal type of sphenoid sinus was not encountered. Presellar sinuses were detected in only 3 (5.8%) class I cases. Incomplete sinuses were detected in 16 (30.8%) class I, 7 (18.4%) class II, and 15 (41.7%) class III cases. Complete sinuses were detected in 33 (63.4%) class I, 31 (81.6%) class II, and 21 (58.3%) class III cases. Lateral extensions were found in 103 (40.9%) of the 252 sinus walls: 33 (31.7%) in class I, 45 (59.2%) in class II, and 25 (34.7%) in class III sinuses. Conclusion: Regional sphenoid sinus anatomy can be carefully examined via CBCT. The sphenoid sinus pneumatization did not differ significantly in patients exhibiting different types of sagittal skeletal closure, with the exception of the lesser wing type.