X-ray examination, interpretation

X-Ray
An X-ray or Radiograph refers to pictures of teeth, bones, and other surrounding areas.they are normally used for
 * 1) identifying tooth Decay
 * 2) Identifying Periodontal dieases
 * 3) Checking for any injuries on the oral cavity

Interpretation
there are some words which are used to help with understanding of radiographs and they include
 * 1) Radiopaque: Which refers to areas that appear light in the radiograph. Areas that normally appear radiopaque include teeth due to less radiation that can reach them.
 * 2) Radioluscent: Refers to areas that appear dark in the radiograph. These areas normally include dental caries, infection, and periodontal ligaments

Dental restorations (fillings and Crowns) appear can appear both as radioluscent and radiopaque depending on the materials used

Types Of X-ray View
There are 2 main types of X-ray views and these are


 * Intra Oral
 * Extra Oral

Intra Oral
These are X-Rays that are taken inside of the mouth. They include Bite wing ,periapical and Occusal

Bite Wing
It shows crowns of molars, premolars. it is used to diagnose bone loss of more than 4mm and it is also used to detect interproximal caries, recurrent caries and to check bone levels The patient bites on a wing holding the film against the upper and lower teeth and the beam is directed between contacts points perpendicular to the film

Periapical
It shows the whole tooth from the crown to the root. It is useful for identifying root morphology and also for apical infection, periodontal stitus and post trauma. there are 2 ways of making a periapical x-ray


 * 1) Paralleling Technique: In this tecnique film is held in a holder parallel to the tooth and the ray the being directed at right angles
 * 2) Bisecting Angle: In this technique the film is held close to the tooth and the beam is directed at right angles bisecting the angle between the tooth and film

Occusal
It takes X-Rays of the mandibular and maxillary arches. It is used to show impacted tooth, eruption of teeth, jaw fractures and super numery teeth

Extra Oral
These are X-rays that are taken out of the mouth. They include Paranomic, Cephalometry.

Paranomic
It provides images of all the teeth in both maxillary and mandibular arches. It is used to view periodontium, bone levels and the TMJ

Cephalometry
Used to monitor treatment progress and to detect fracures