MRI assessment of temporomandibular disorders: an approach to diagnostic and therapeutic setting

Aims The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the clinical and the radiological data obtained by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with temporomandibular disorder (TMD).Methodology The study group included 17 patients with symptoms of TMDs. The radiological assessments before and after therapy was evaluated by MRI; in the clinical analysis, signs and associated symptoms have been assessed.Results With MRI before therapy, we were able to distinguish the specific type of TMD that each patient had. At the end of the treatment, a general improvement of the clinical status was noticed; MRI, however, showed the permanence of several degrees of condyle-disc incoordination in some patients.Conclusions Certainly TMDs can be diagnosed without MRI; nevertheless, MRI gives us the possibility to obtain objective data of the patients concerned. Symptoms recorded during a clinical evaluation cannot be the only terms of diagnosis; MRI provides objective data in the diagnostic and post-therapy phases.