OPG (panoramic) radiograph.
Welcome back to another interesting and informative article by Dental Camberwell.
Dentisty has advanced in leaps and bounds over the last decade. We are proud to sat, Hartwell Dental Excellence has advanced along with it.
Today we will be looking at why the radiograph is an excellent diagnostic tool and how it compliments our comprehensive examination.
What is an OPG radiograph?
An OPG radiograph is a panoramic 2D view of your whole mouth. This is an invaluable tool at Hartwell Dental Excellence because it serves as the screening radiograph especially for the comprehensive examination.
Imagine going to the mechanics to check your car. If the mechanics cannot lift up the bonnet to check inside, then how can we expect him to give us a full report on how our car is performing?
Similary, this radiograph helps the dentis view all the structures around the jaw. This includes your sinus, your jaw joints, all the teeth including teeth that are not in your mouth (non-eurpted). The dentist can see previous dental work, assess the health of your bone, look at the alignment of your teeth and check for anything not normal. Without the help of this radiograph, proper diagnosis cannot be made.
Why have an OPG radiograph
Some of the pathology and valuable information we can find from this radiograph are as follows:
The presence and positioning of wisdom teeth
Bone levels related to gum disease
All teeth including unerupted
Assessment for Implant placement, relative to vital structures
For jaw joint problems
For trauma to the jaw
For orthodontic diagnosis
For children – the presence and positioning of adult teeth
Presence of cysts
Neoplasm, benign or malignant
What about radiation exposure?
The only risk associated with this type of radiograph is the very small dose of radiation. Studies show that on OPG is less radiation than flying from Melbourne to Perth.
At Hartwell Dental Excellence, we don’t want to just deal with problems, we want to prevent them from happening. So, with all the information that is given to us by these OPG radiographs, wouldn’t you want us to provide you with this quality service?