Abstract: The main principle of the functional magnetic resonance imaging（fMRI） is that with the activity of neurons the regional oxygen consumption can not match with cerebral blood flow which results in the change of regional magnetic field. It is an imaging method of function brain area by stimulate in magnetic resonance facility, and it can exactitude reflect the nerve activity level of brain and confirm the function brain area in alive body, and it is a new impersonality imagine method to evaluate the cognitive function of human. With a rapid and great development of the normal magnetic resonance imaging（MRI） technique during these years, the functional magnetic resonance imaging has been a new imaging technique which has been widely applied in the fundament field of research and clinical research of the Neuroscience. Especially, the investigation of blood oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging（BOLDfMRI） in neurology and psychiatry developed quickly. With the fMRI the neuron can be comparatively precise located non-woundedly and repeatedly, besides higher space and time resolution, no radiation and better repeatability are also its advantages. The application of functional magnetic resonance imaging in stomatology are mainly in the study of the oral cavity function, such as masticatory function, swallowing function, speech, sensation, the sensation of oromaxillo-facial region like trigeminal neuralgia and susceptibility artifact. In this article, we summarized the principle, application and perspective of functional magnetic resonance imaging in stomatology.

Key words: functional magnetic resonance imaging, oral cavity function, representation of cerebral cortex