{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T10:51:49Z","timestamp":1767955909544,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767916800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Neck pain is highly prevalent among dentists and has been linked to occupational exposure and cervical degeneration. However, the relationship between cervical MRI findings and symptoms remains inconsistent. This study aimed to explore MRI-based cervical structural profiles in active dentists and examine their associations with neck pain, disability, and participant characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 57 practicing dentists. Participants reported neck pain and completed the Numeric Pain Rating Scale and the Neck Disability Index (NDI). Cervical MRI scans were assessed by an experienced musculoskeletal radiologist. An exploratory hierarchical cluster analysis (complete linkage, Euclidean distance) was applied using MRI degenerative variables to identify structural profiles, followed by bivariate comparisons with clinical and occupational factors. Results: Degenerative MRI findings were common (disc bulging, 66.7%; disc herniation, 54.4%). Two MRI-based profiles were identified, one characterized by a higher burden of degenerative findings (including disc and facet changes) (70.2%), and another with fewer\/milder degenerative features (29.8%). Neck pain and NDI scores \u2265 20 were more frequent in the higher-degeneration profile (p = 0.001 and p = 0.004, respectively). Age showed a non-linear pattern, with younger dentists reporting pain despite milder MRI changes, whereas older dentists showed more degeneration with fewer symptoms. Conclusions: In this exploratory study, individual MRI findings were not independently associated with neck pain, while a higher overall burden of degenerative changes tended to co-occur with greater symptom reporting and disability. These findings should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating and warrant confirmation in larger, longitudinal studies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15020536","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T09:25:02Z","timestamp":1767950702000},"page":"536","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Cervical Magnetic Resonance Imaging Profiles and Their Association with Cervical Pain in Dentists: A Cluster Analysis Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Ana","family":"L\u00f3pez-Morales","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Stomatology, Radiology and Physical Medicine, University of Murcia, 30008 Murcia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6411-1373","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aitor","family":"Ba\u00f1o-Alcaraz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain"},{"name":"Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia IMIB-Pascual Parrilla, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9735-550X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manuel","family":"L\u00f3pez-Nicol\u00e1s","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Stomatology, Radiology and Physical Medicine, University of Murcia, 30008 Murcia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3063-2693","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jos\u00e9 Antonio","family":"Garc\u00eda-Vidal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain"},{"name":"Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia IMIB-Pascual Parrilla, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5547-5407","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Germ\u00e1n","family":"C\u00e1novas-Ambit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain"},{"name":"Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia IMIB-Pascual Parrilla, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e142","DOI":"10.1016\/S2665-9913(23)00321-1","article-title":"Global, Regional, and National Burden of Neck Pain, 1990\u20132020, and Projections to 2050: A Systematic Analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021","volume":"6","author":"Wu","year":"2024","journal-title":"Lancet Rheumatol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wu, H., Li, Y., Zou, C., Guo, W., Han, F., Huang, G., and Sun, L. 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