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features Errors in Panoramic Radiography

Errors in panoramic radiography are usually from two different sources: patient positioning errors and darkroom errors (film-based radiography). In this self-tutorial, several radiographs are included to demostrate patient positioning errors. Please review the six examples of most common errors in panoramic radiography. Eliminating these common errors will provide us with better diagnosis.

Panoramic Erros Case 1

This panoramic radiograph shows several errors and discrepancies. The chin and occlusal plane are rotated downwards. This positioning error leads to another error in the mandibular anterior region. The apices of the mandibular anterior teeth are out of the focal trough. The roots of the mandibular incisors appear smaller than usual. Another error in this image is with the position of the tongue. The tongue must contact the hard palate throughout the exposure. The shadow of the air space obscures the peripaical areas. As the head is rotated downwards, the condyles are pointing towards midline of the image. The hard palate appears curved due to the same positioning error. Becasue of the same positioning error, the base of the middle cranial fossa is displayed in this image.