braces and mris

[jt'smom]

anyone out there ever have a child that had a mri while they had braces? my son needs a brain mri, and the neurologist told me that he would need to have his braces removed for the scan. being a veteran of scads of brain mri's this makes sense because of the interference the metal could create, but when i asked his orthodonstist's office about the procedure, they said they had never heard of this!

i explained that i would need his wires and brackets removed, but then put right back on. the receptionist kept saying that they had done it for vanity reasons, like wedding pictures, but never for anything like this. i know this will be costly, and that is fine, but i am hoping someone here has had to do this and can give me advice on what to expect. also i thought it was weird that she wouldn't have the dr. call me directly to discuss this, and insisted she would give him the info. that's not acceptable to me and i'll just go in and insist on talking to him, but i'm curious if anyone has ever been in this situation before?

 

[JessicaR]

I'm guessing a CT-scan isnt an alternative? I found this on MRI's and braces.

Can I have an MR exam if I have braces on my teeth?

Patients with braces may receive an MR imaging examination. However, if you have braces and need MR imaging of your brain or facial area, the MR system may have difficulty "tuning" to your body. The MR tuning process is similar to tuning a radio to a specific frequency or radio station. This tuning process can be "confused" if the patient has metal in his or her body, particularly if the metal is in the area being imaged. Unfortunately, there is no way to know in advance how much distortion from braces may result on MR images of the head, face or upper neck.

http://health.ucsd.edu/specialties/mri/ptinfo/faqs.htm

 

[golfgal]

I also have this vision of a child stuck to the side of the MRI by his braces (it is a big magnet after all). I would call around to some other orthodontists and ask THEM what they think. It could just be your ortho hasn't had this come up in the past (or his staff that you talked to hasn't). I would at a minimum ask to talk directly to the ORTHO who may know better than the receptionist.

 

[JessicaR]

I just read something else that said it can be done and they may not interfere but no way of knowing until the test is preformed. Would that be an option? I know the test is expensive but putting the kid through that isn't a picnic either. Sorry you are being faced with this. Hope your son is OK.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

My husband fixes MRI's and CT scanners for a living. He just told me that someone with braces CAN have an MR ( they won't be pulled off by the magnet or anything ) but the metal would cause "artifacts" on the images. By artififacts he means that the images wouldn't be as clear as they could/should be.

He suggests that you call directly to the imaging center and ask to speak with the machine operator. Tell them exactly what is being scanned for and they should know how much problem the braces would cause.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I worked for a mobile MRI imaging company as a tech's assistant. Having an MRI of the brain with metal braces is not going to work very well. Like a PP said, the braces are going to cause an artifact (basically a big white or black spot) on the scan and the radiologist isn't going to be able to read it.

I'm guessing the receptionist at the orthodontists office is not familiar with MRI's and how they work.

Best of luck to your son!

 

[Nelfamily]

YES. My son needed routine MRI scans of his brain after a cancerous tumor was removed, and he had braces during most of the scans. We talked with his orthodontist and she recommended ceramic brackets and would just remove the wire before the scan and then re-attach the wire afterwards. The brackets didn't cause any problems with the scans at all, where the metal brackets would. He only had the front four teeth in braces though. His lower jaw still needs the braces put on them, but we're waiting for his jaw to grow out further. Once it's grown out, we'll have them put on but the doc will wait for his yearly MRI to come and go and then put them on the bottoms so we don't have to take them right back off. We aren't going to be able to put the ceramic on the bottoms. They have to be metal all around.

Hope everything turns out ok for your son.