Ultrasonography in Maxillofacial Lesions

Various kinds of diseases may be found in the oral and maxillofacial regions and various modalities may be applied for their diagnosis, including intra-oral radiography, panoramic radiography, ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and nuclear medicine methods such as positron emission tomography. Of these modalities, ultrasound imaging is easy to use for the detection of noninvasive and soft tissue-related diseases. Ultrasonography uses a probe with one or more acoustic Transducers to send pulses of sound into a material. Whenever a sound wave encounters a material with a different density a part of the sound wave is reflected back to the probe and is detected as an echo. The time it takes for the echo to travel back to the probe is measured and used to calculate the depth of the tissue interface causing the echo. Ultrasound is an inexpensive, non-invasive and readily available imaging technique, that can be used as a primary investigative imaging technique So as to avoid radiation hazards caused by X-ray radiation or to provide imaging in a cost-effective way ultrasonography is an alternative imaging modality. Hence proper application and utilization of this technique can be of great use in dentistry though it still has not made its place in routine imaging modalities of maxillofacial region. Its limited role in bony and intra-bony diseases and operator sensitivity makes it a less used and less appreciated imaging modality.