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Panoramic Dental X-rays Not for All Patients Researchers from the University at Buffalo reported recently that routine dental panoramic X-rays may not actually be necessary for all patients. The findings from a study that analyzed 1,000 randomly selected panoramic X-rays for abnormalities, including bone lesions, were presented March 11 at the International Association on Dental Research meeting in Baltimore. Of the 1,000 panoramic X-rays examined, 352 lesions were identified, only a few of which could not be detected by a full mouth series of periapical X-rays, which provide an in-depth view of a single tooth. “You can’t assess cavities or gum disease on a panoramic X-ray. If a small X-ray isn’t good enough for a condition you see in a patient, then a panoramic X-ray can be done. But our results show it isn’t necessary, routinely, for every single patient,” Lida Radfar, an assistant professor of oral diagnostic sciences and senior author of the study, said in a prepared statement. Minimizing panoramic X-rays is an effective cost-cutting measure and can help limit a patient’s already minimal exposure to X-rays. “If it isn’t necessary, why do it?” Radfar said. -Nicholas Olsen-
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