Utility of ultrasonography as an auxiliary method in the diagnosis of lesions in oral soft tissues

A review was made of the literature about the indications, advantages, and limitations of ultrasonography as a complementary examination in the area of odontology during the diagnosis of soft tissue changes in the max- illofacial region. A survey of the PubMed database com- prising articles from 2000 to 2013 was performed with the following keywords: intraoral lesions, ultrasonography, diagnosis by imaging, oral soft tissue lesions, and oral pathology. Although ultrasonography is rarely requested by oral surgeons, the results demonstrated its use as a com- plementary examination that aided in the establishment of differential and/or conclusive diagnoses of innumerable diseases. It can demonstrate the presence of mucous, sub- mucous, cutaneous, or subcutaneous nodules, and their respective diameters and precise localizations. It determi- nes whether lesions are solid or contain liquid, differenti- ates edemas from abscesses, and identifies cysts, salivary gland pathologies, and vascular lesions, besides contribut- ing to the staging of cervical metastases. Like other available imaging examinations, ultrasonography has specific indications and limitations. However, compared with other methods, it demonstrates widely favorable re- sults for its use. It is suggested that this resource should be promoted in the odontology field as another alternative for obtaining a clinical diagnosis for oromaxillofacial changes. Ultrasonography is an innocuous and non-invasive ex- amination, which is readily available and of low cost, and has eminent potential for assisting in the diagnosis of orofacial soft tissue diseases. However, to date, it has been infrequently used by oral surgeons, who are often not aware of its effective indications and advantages in relation to classical methods of diagnosis.