Application of panoramic radiographs in the diagnosis of temporomandibular disorders

Abstract

To evaluate the feasibility of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) diagnosis with panoramic radiography, and provide standardized data for artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis by measuring the differences in the condylar and mandibular ramus heights. A total of 500 panoramic radiographs (219 male and 281 female participants) of healthy individuals were examined. The panoramic machine compatible measurement software, SCANORA 5.2.6, was used to measure the bilateral condylar height and mandibular ramus height, and SPSS 27.0 was used to calculate the left- and right-side differences in condylar height and mandibular ramus height of healthy individuals. Magnetic resonance images of the temporomandibular joint region obtained from 46 outpatients in the Stomatology Department were selected along with their corresponding panoramic radiographs. The left- and right-sided differences were measured and compared with the magnetic resonance imaging results. The measurement data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (mm). t Tests were used to analyze data from healthy male and healthy female groups. The findings revealed that while there was no significant difference (P > .05) in the height of the condyle between men and women, there was a significant difference (P