ArticleBMC oral health2025
Can magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reduce lingual nerve injuries during mandibular third molar surgery? A scoping review.
Article in BMC oral health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Early Diagnosis of Iatrogenic Post-Traumatic Trigeminal Neuropathies: From Clinical Gaps to Medico-Legal Implications-A Comprehensive Structured Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- The Application of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Dentistry: A Bibliometric Analysis.International dental journal · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRecent advancements in MRI, with its superior soft tissue resolution and ionising radiation-free nature, provide a promising solution for the limitations of current imaging modalities. This review aims to evaluate whether MRI can be utilised to reduce the risk of lingual nerve (LN) injury during mandibular third molar surgery (M3M).
methodsFollowing PRISMA guidelines, the protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024625994). A systematic literature search was employed across MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Science Direct without language or date restrictions. Studies assessing MRI's ability to visualise the LN and surgically relevant anatomy were included. The risk of bias was evaluated using ROBINS-I. Given the heterogeneity of included studies, this review was conducted as a scoping review to explore the range of evidence available, and findings were summarised through narrative synthesis.
resultsFourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. While none directly assessed whether MRI reduces the incidence of LN injury, it consistently demonstrated superior LN visualisation compared to conventional imaging. Among the sequences evaluated, Three-dimensional Double-Echo Steady-State with Water Excitation (3D-DESS-WE) and Sampling Perfection with Application-optimised Contrasts using different flip angle Evolutions with Short Tau Inversion Recovery (SPACE-STIR) provided nerve delineation and anatomical clarity. However, variability in scan duration, availability of MRI, the need for specialised image interpretation, and only moderate inter-observer agreement currently limit the clinical application of MRI in M3M surgery.
conclusionDefinitive evidence of the efficacy of MRI in reducing nerve injury during M3M is lacking. However, moderate to low quality evidence suggests that MRI offers superior visualisation of the LN compared to conventional imaging. Further clinical trials are needed to evaluate whether MRI's enhanced preoperative visualisation translates into improved clinical outcomes from M3M surgery.
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Registered trials
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