Background: Panoramic radiography provides an overview of the teeth, jawbone and surrounding bony/calcified structures. The examination is, however, challenging to perform without errors. Poor-quality panoramic radiographs can result in misinterpretations, repeated or supplementary examinations, increasing the radiation dose.
Aim: To assess the overall quality of a sample of panoramic radiographs performed in Västerbotten county council and to investigate whether the patients’ gender and/or age influence image quality.
Methods: A total of 274 digital panoramic radiographs were assessed by two observers for the presence of errors, following an assessment protocol. The general image quality was classified and the causes of imaging errors were evaluated.
Results: The most common error was turned patient head, and the least frequent was the presence of external artifacts. Only five radiographs were without error (1.8%), 31.4% were adequate, 51.5% poor but diagnosable, and 15.3% undiagnosable. No major differences in image quality were found between gender (P=0.138) or between adults and children (p=0.607). Younger children had a significantly higher incidence of image errors compared to older children (P=0.021). The most common cause of undiagnosable radiographs among adults was incorrect tongue position and among children, movement during exposure.
Conclusion: Image quality in panoramic radiographs performed in Västerbotten county council can improve, since more than every seventh radiograph was considered undiagnosable and less than 2% were deemed excellent. It is more challenging to perform panoramic examinations on smaller children. By reducing the number of image errors, retakes and additional radiation dose to the patient can be avoided.