14 Dental Panoramic Radiography 1 Flashcards
What is the most common extra-oral radiograph in dentistry?
Panoramic radiographs
- DPT (dental panoramic tomogram)
- Orthopantogram (OPT/OPG- trade name)
What technique was developed as a solution to superimposition in extra-oral radiographs?
Tomography - developed to allow ‘slices’ of the subject to be viewed separately
What are the two types of tomography?
- conventional - one slice (DPTs)
- computed - multiple slices (CT, MRI)
Describe a panoramic radiograph?
Is a form of conventional tomography which was developed to capture a curved slice aligned with the “horseshoe” shape of the jaws
What is the basic technique for taking a DPT
The patient stands still in the middle of the machine
Controlled rotation of x-ray source and receptor around head during exposure
- both remain opposite each other but point of rotation constantly shifts
- x-ray source remains primarily behind
- receptor remains primarily in front
how long does a DPT take?
14 seconds
What is the relevance of the focal slice in tomography?
Focal slice = focal trough
Structures in the focal slice will appear clearly distinguishable on the image,
Whereas structures outside of the focal slice will appear faint and spread out further across the image (the further out, the worse the effect)
What can be a problem if a patient has a “non-standard” mandible size/shape?
The focal trough is curved as a result of complex rotational movements of the x-ray source and receptor around the patient.
This mimics the size of the average mandible
If the patients mandible is doesn’t fit the “standard”, parts may not be in the focal trough, therefore reduced image quality
What are the boundaries of the focal trough?
There are no defined boundaries, sharpness continually decreases as you move further away.
Why are the anterior teeth more likely to be blurry on a DPT?
The focal trough is thinner anteriorly
- related to the speed of rotation at this point
What is a limitation of the focal trough?
Ectotopic teeth may be far enough out of the focal trough, so appear as “missing”
What are ectopic teeth?
Teeth that develop in an abnormal position, and fail to erupt in their normal location in the mouth
What does the orthogonal programme do on a DPT?
The orthogonal programme alters the x-ray beam so that it is orthogonal (90degrees) to the buccal surface of the teeth. This aims to provide an optimal view of the dentition
What are the advantages to orthogonal program?
- Reduces overlap of the teeth to aid assessment of approximal caries (especially premolars)
- Improves angulation to more accurately represent interdental periodontal bone levels
What are the disadvantages to orthogonal program?
- Distorts the rest of the skeleton to varying degrees
- Typically a narrower field of view, so may miss condyles at edge of image
What is the orthogonal program suitable for?
For cases requiring only caries and/or periodontal bone loss assessment