Arfan-ul haq, Waheed-ul hamid M, Ali Raza Jafri.
To determine mean distortion score of mri at nine different sections of head and neck with dantauram metallic orthodontic brackets on the teeth.
Pak Oral Dental J Jan ;35(3):416-9.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structure. The presence of metallic sources, such as dental implants, orthodontic braces and metallic dental crowns may reduce the image quality of MRI in the maxillofacial region causing large magnetic field distortion and signal loss. Study was designed to evaluate the effects of Dantauram metallic orthodontic brackets on diagnostic quality of MRI image at nine craniofacial regions. A Cross sectional study was carried out on 30 patients visiting Department of Orthodontics, de’ Montmorency College of Dentistry/Punjab Dental Hospital Lahore (tertiary health care center). Patients with 18 years or above, of either sex and recently bonded with Dantauram metallic orthodontic brackets were included in the study. Duration of study was six months. Dantauram metallic brackets were bonded to all incisors, canine and premolars except molars. The mean distortion score of MRI at nine different sections of head and neck including tongue, body of mandible, hard palate, orbits/globes, nasopharynx, pituitary gland, frontal lobe, temporal lobe and brain stem with Dantauram metallic orthodontic brackets on the teeth was noted. The neuroradiologist was requested to rank the images according to the distortion of these regions using a modified receiver operating characteristic method of distortion classification. The results of the current study revealed that 53.33% patients were between 18-30 years, 36.67% 31-40 years, and 10% patients with > 40 years age. Among these patients 76.67% were females and 23.33% males. The mean distortion score of MRI at nine different sections of head and neck with Dantauram metallic orthodontic brackets on the teeth of these patients was noted. It was observed that mean distortion score was 2.15±0.93 for tongue, body of mandible 2.79±0.88, hard plate 2.02±0.12, orbits/globes 2.32±0.38, nasopharynx 2.11±0.43, pituitary gland 1.96±0.23, frontal lobe 1.15±0.21, temporal lobe 1.75±0.76 and for brain stem was 0.78±0.53. It was concluded that mean distortion score of MRI at nine different sections of head and neck with Dantauram metallic orthodontic brackets on the teeth is <3 in all sections. This means that there is insignificant distortion of MRI at different craniofacial regions with Dantauram metallic orthodontic brackets on the teeth. However, more trials are required to confirm the findings and recommending for non-removal of brackets before MRI.

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