Why Do Healthcare Professionals Use Panoramic Radiograph?

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Introduction – Uses in Dentistry

Most people in the United States that goes to the dentist have had a panoramic radiograph taken — dentists commonly call it a “dental X-Ray” due to its prominent use. This type of X-Ray is immediately recognizable by the strange look of the resulting image, which is a two-dimensional look at your complete set of teeth. Since your teeth exist in a three-dimensional world, the panoramic radiograph will make your jaw look flat and distorted.

Dentists use the panoramic radiograph to help diagnose a variety of dental conditions. Some of the things a panoramic radiograph can help a dentist with are the following:

•Periodontal bone loss
•Impacted wisdom teeth
•Diagnosis of osteosarcoma, ameloblastoma, and renal osteodystrophy
•Locating cavities and the source of dental pain
•Assist in locating the correct areas for dental implants
•Locate and diagnose carcinoma in the jaw

What is a Panoramic Radiograph?

Panoramic Radiography, as the name suggests, produces a panoramic image (via X-Ray) of the upper and lower jaw. The resulting image is created by “stitching” together various images into the complete panoramic radiograph. This technique produces an image where the maxilla and mandible remain in focus, but the rest of the structures are allowed to go out of focus.

The panoramic radiograph is created using a rotating arm that travels horizontally around the patient’s head. The rotating arm houses the X-Ray source and on the opposite side has either moving film or digital sensor that is exposed by the X-Ray as the arm and film (or sensor) moves around the patient’s head.

Uses Outside of Dentistry

Research conducted at the University of Rochester, Eastman Dental Center and published in the New York state dental journal discusses the use of panoramic radiography to identify patients at risk of stroke. This research suggests that carotid artery calcifications that show up on dental panoramic radiographs can be used to identify patients at risk of stroke.

Advantages and Disadvantages

As with any technology, panoramic radiography has both advantages and disadvantages when compared to traditional intraoral radiography. The top advantages to panoramic radiography are the broad region imaged in a single radiograph, relatively low patient radiation dose, and quicker and easier imaging of patient’s entire dentition. Since panoramic radiography is an extraoral technique very fine detail cannot be rendered well. Sometimes parts of the image are magnified, overlapped, or distorted due to limitations in the technique. A final disadvantage of the technique is the severe distortion and sometimes complete out of focus areas that lie outside of the focus zone.

Results of a panoramic radiograph can also be hampered with errors such as positioning and technical errors. If the patient is not positioned correctly and the X-Ray head is not aligned correctly, the resulting image will have focus problems or a distorted view of the patient’s dentition. Technical errors can occur in the form of old film (resulting in a fogged image) or improper processing. These technical errors may become moot as more dentists switch from film to digital.

While panoramic radiography is, and will likely always be, primarily used in dentistry, as we have seen some researchers are finding new ways to use this technology to identify other potential medical conditions, and offer early warning signs for patients at risk of stroke.