Evaluation of error types and quality on panoramic radiography

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of panoramic radiographic errors and to evaluate the correlation between age and panoramic radiographic error types. Methodology: A total of 500 panoramic radiographs (259 male, 241 female) which had been taken for various reasons were randomly selected from the archive of our dentomaxillofacial radiology department. Patients were divided into six age groups and by sex. The assessed errors included the tongue not in contact with the palate, slumped position, patients not biting on bite block, patient movement, the chin tipped high, the chin tipped low, the patient positioned forward, the patient positioned backward, patient’s head turned to one side, foreign bodies in the image, exposure errors, positioning error of the lips and missing image. The quality of each radiograph was rated as excellent, diagnostically acceptable or unacceptable. Results: One or more errors were detected in 317 (63.4%) of the 500 panoramic radiographs, while no error was found in 183 (36.6%) of the images. It was observed that the most common error type was the slumped position (13.2%). All of the panoramic radiographs were evaluated according to the quality criteria: only 15% of the images were classified as “excellent”, 48.2% were rated “inadequate for diagnosis” and 36.8% were graded “adequate for diagnosis”. It was recorded that “slumped position” and “patient movement” errors were statistically significant in >56 years (p