In the world of dentistry, there is no one-stop diagnostic tool, and the different types of chairside dental scanners available each have a specific purpose as part of dental treatment.
Most dentists will typically use a combination of intraoral scanners and X-rays as the primary diagnostic tools, and for most patients and most treatments, these systems will provide enough data for a dentist to interpret and develop treatments.
However, much like how you cannot hear with your eyes or smell with your mouth, these scanners have their inherent limitations, which is why a story published by King’s College London has proven to be so fascinating and potentially game-changing.
Researchers are studying the potential of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans as a complement or even perhaps an alternative to existing diagnostic methods, capable of providing insight to dentists that CT scans currently cannot provide.
For example, CT scans cannot always check for active inflammations, meaning that a dentist needs to use their best judgment to determine if gums are healing or if a flare-up is creating the false impression of healing.
Alongside this, MRIs are typically used in other medical fields for more advanced imaging, treatment planning and progression, enhancing the effects of tools already used in advanced orthodontics, implant surgery and prosthetic dentistry.
As well as this, more complex conditions which require multiple scans each week of treatment would be safer using MRI compared to CT scans.
A CT scan uses multiple X-rays, and whilst the level of radiation exposure is minimal for an X-ray, it can accumulate over a long period of time.
At present, the main limitations with MRIs are cost and access; MRI machines are expensive, and specialist tools are needed to make them applicable for dentistry.
As well as this, additional training in using and interpreting MRI information would be required, but it may potentially be useful for second opinions and advanced treatment planning for complex conditions.