Aspectos imaginológicos das mineralizações em tecido mole

Abstract

Soft tissue radiopacities of the oral and maxillofacial region are common and usually appear on routine dental radiographs. The normal deposition of calcium occurs during the formation of bone and dental tissues, when deposited in unusual places they are called heterotopic or pathological calcifications. This calcification is divided into three types: dystrophic, idiopathic and metastatic calcifications. Examples of dystrophic diseases include calcified lymph nodes, tonsilloliths, arteriosclerosis and atheromatosis; examples of idiopathic are sialoliths, phleboliths, rhinoliths and antroliths, and finally as metastatic, we have mineralization of the stylohyoid ligament. When found in panoramic radiographs, the dentist is more likely to identify the most likely diagnosis, but when mineralizations are identified in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) there is greater difficulty for the dentist in identifying these images. In order to expand knowledge about the identification of soft tissue mineralizations that affect the maxillofacial region, the present study aimed to review the literature on the topic and develop courseware in the form of a handbook containing definitions, clinical and imaging aspects of the main soft tissue mineralizations, both in panoramic and CBCT images.