Purpose: To evaluate patient compliance in CT examination of the oral vestibule with distended, blown-up cheeks and to determine how often such images provided additional information when disease processes in this area were suspected.
Material and methods: Fifty-four patients were examined with CT of the oral vestibule with distended cheeks and 16 of them had diseases where oral vestibule affection was considered possible.
Results: Fifty-three of 54 patients were able to perform cheek distension. Of 16 patients with possible disease involvement of the oral vestibule, additional information was thus obtained in 11 patients.
Conclusion: When lesions involving the oral vestibule or adjacent regions are suspected, CT examination with distended cheeks is recommended as a routine procedure. The oral vestibule separates the teeth and gingiva from the buccal mucosa of the lips and cheek. On CT images of the oral region, the buccal and gingival mucosa are not separated and thus difficult to define. Problems may arise in deciding whether or not a limited tumorous or infectious lesion of the gingiva also involves the buccal region and vice-versa. We observed that images with distended, blown-up cheeks could be useful in this respect, as the air separated the gingival from the buccomasseteric region and allowed a determination of buccal distensibility. The purpose of the present report was to establish how well the patients could co-operate in performing the CT examination with distended cheeks, and how often such images provided additional information in patients with disease processes which might affect the oral vestibule.