Dislocation of the temporomandibular joint disk demonstrated by CT.

The need to visualize soft-tissue components of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and the knowledge of the growing use of computed tomography (CT) in medical diagnostic imaging prompted one author (E. L. C.) to consider its potential for TMJ evaluation. The experience with our first patient who had an anteriorly dislocated joint disk has stimulated the use of CT for patients in the TMJ clinic. The CT equipment of several manufacturers now includes software functions that allow easy orthogonal and oblique plane reformatting and improved osseous and soft-tissue detail, features enhancing the value of CT over conventional radiography. While these newer scanning features have quickly shown their importance for improved imaging of the spine, temporal bone, orbit, face , and skull base, other regions await their evaluation. To our knowledge, the radiologic literature does not include reports of CT of the TMJ, but two reports have appeared in oral surgical journals [1 , 2].