POSITIONING ERRORS IN ORTHOPANTOMOGRAPHS [OPG]
TAKEN FOR ORTHODONTIC ASSESSMENT
-A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY
Introduction
An ideal radiograph is the one which has high diagnostic quality. To obtain diagnostically useful panoramic radiographs, it is necessary to properly prepare and position the patients in the focal trough [1]. The value of a radiograph is reduced when it is of poor diagnostic quality. Improper positioning leads to an image of low diagnostic value. Such non diagnostic image requires repetition leading to increased risk of radiation induced cancer which has been estimated as 0.21 or 1.9 per million examinations [1].
Panoramic imaging ( orthopantomography) is an imaging technique that is employed for producing facial structures including
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Panaromic radiographs are important in assessing the alveolar bone morphology, presence or absence of specific teeth, their morphology, structure, ,and their eruption sequence and special relationship. However it provides limited information about space availability in dental arch, mandibular symmetry, paranasal sinuses, root parallelism, and temporomandibular joint. Advantages of panaromic radiography (OPG) include low radiation dose, low operator time, relatively short patient exposure, excellent patient comfort.
Positioning of young patients with mixed dentition for panoramic imaging is always a challenge because of increased chances of patient movement during exposure resulting in image of poor diagnostic quality. Thus the purpose of our study was to evaluate common positioning errors in panoramic radiographs taken for Orthodontic assessment.
Materials and methods
This retrospective study was carried out in the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Saveetha Dental College by analysing 100 digital panoramic radiographs of patients seeking orthodontic treatment from the period of October 2016 to December