Panoramic Positioning Erros

Question 1

what should you have patients remove

Answer 1

• dental appliances
• earrings
• necklaces
• hairpins
• glasses

Question 2

what is proper position for pano

Answer 2

• teeth and jaws sharply depicted
• slight curvature of occlusal plane
• equal magnification on left and right side
• no air space obstructing view of maxillary roots
• no ghost image of cervical spine in midline

Question 3

what are the positioning errors

Answer 3

• too far forward
• too far back
• chin down
• chin up
• head turned
• patient slumped
• tongue not at roof of mouth
• lead apron artifact
• partial panoramic image
• patient movement

Question 4

what happens in the image when patient is too far forward

Answer 4

• anterior teeth narrowed and blurred
• cervical spine superimposed on ramus- double real image

Question 5

what happens to the photo when the patient is too far back

Answer 5

• anterior teeth widened and blurred
• inferior turbinates and meati spread across maxillary sinus
• condyles close to or cut off side of image

Question 6

what happens in the image when the patients chin is down

Answer 6

• excessive curvature of occlusal place
• roots of mandibular anterior teeth are blurred
• rami/condyles tipped inward
• condyles close to or cut off top of image
• hyoid bone superimposed on mandible

Question 7

what happens in the image when the patients chin is up

Answer 7

• flat occlusal plane or reverse curvature
• roots of maxillary anterior teeth are blurred
• rami/condyles tipped laterally
  -condyles close to or cut off side of image
• hard palate superimposed on maxillary apices

Question 8

what happens in the image when the patients head is turned

Answer 8

• unequal magnification of left and right side- teeth and ramus
• increased blurring and overlapping of contacts on one side

Question 9

when the head is turned to the right, the posterior left dentition:

Answer 9

moves closer to the sensor so the teeth will project narrower on the image

Question 10

when the head is turned to the right, the posterior right dentition:

Answer 10

moves further from the sensor so they will project wider on the radiographic image

Question 11

what happens to the image when the patient is slumped

Answer 11

ghost image of cervical spine

Question 12

what happens to the image when the tongue is not at the roof of the mouth

Answer 12

palatoglossal air space is seen

Question 13

what is the most common patient positioning error

Answer 13

patient slumped over