Abstract

Background and Objectives: The commitment of the dental profession in delivering the highest quality of care to each of its individual patients and applying advancements in technology and science has been continually improving the oral health status of the population globally. Radiographs can help the dental practitioner evaluate and definitively diagnose many oral diseases, disorders and conditions. 

Hence the present study aims to compare the clinical features and findings with the panoramic radiographic features and the frequency to detect various occult findings which were undetected clinically.

Methodology: A total of 130 patients above 10 years of age inclusive of both genders were taken as sample size. After an informed consent from all the study subjects and institutional ethical committee clearance, a thorough clinical examination was carried out under optimal illumination and recorded on a pre designed Performa.

This was followed by a panoramic radiographic screening. 

The pathologies which were taken into consideration, clinically (C) and radiologically (R) to check for their association in the study included:

• Dental caries (C₁ and R₁)
• Periodontal bone loss (C₂ and R₂)
• Condylar changes (C₃ and R₃)
• Any occult/incidental findings (C₄ and R₄)

The data was analyzed using Chi-Square test.

Results: The association in above mentioned 4 groups was found to be 99% (significant p < 0.05), 94% (significant p = 0.44), 84% (significant p = 0.32) and 11% (p > 0.05 - statistically insignificant) respectively.

Conclusion: Radiographs have been an important aid in guiding the dental practitioner evaluate and definitively diagnose many oral diseases and conditions. The use of panoramic radiography as an additive tool to the clinical examination in oral evaluation would enhance the global oral health thereby proving to be an essential diagnostic tool.

Keywords: Radiographs; Diagnostic Tool; X-Rays

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Citation

Citation: Vathsala Naik and Gaurav. "Efficacy of Panoramic Radiography Versus Clinical Evaluation as a Diagnostic Tool - A Cross Sectional Study”. Acta Scientific Dental Sciences 4.4 (2020): 79-84.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Vathsala Naik and Gaurav. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.