Dental Radiography Essentials

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering dental radiography equipment, techniques, artifacts, and pathology for dogs and cats.

The Dental Unit Components

The system includes the generator, extension arm, scissor arm, and the x-ray tube which contains a collimator cone.

Stationary anode tube

The type of x-ray tube encased at the end of the scissor arm that rotates around a stem, often featuring an angle meter on one side.

Dental film kv requirements

The KV required for imaging teeth is generally much higher than the settings used for imaging a cat abdomen via a cassette-screen system.

Direct digital radiography (DR) receptor

A digital imaging system that utilizes a size $2$ sensor as the image receptor.

Radiography log essentials

A record of all exposures that must include a column for seconds if the machine uses preset MA and KV settings.

Indications for dental radiographs

Clinical reasons for imaging including periodontal disease, missing teeth, resorptive lesions, oral tumors, malformed or discolored teeth, extractions, and trauma.

Basic tooth types

The four categories of teeth found in dogs and cats: incisors, canine teeth, premolar teeth, and molar teeth.

Convex dot

A feature on dental film that is always exposed at the rostral end of the mouth and used to orient the film by holding the raised side toward the viewer.

Parallel technique

A projection geometry method involving placing the dental film directly behind and parallel to the tooth, then directing the x-ray beam perpendicular to the film.

Bisecting angle technique

A method used when the anatomical structure of the mouth prevents parallel placement; the beam is directed at the angle that bisects the angle formed by the film and the tooth's long axis.

Elongation

A radiographic artifact where the tooth appears stretched out because the central ray is at a right angle to the long axis of the tooth instead of the bisecting angle.

Foreshortening

A radiographic artifact where the crown appears to overlap the root because the central ray is at a right angle to the film instead of the bisecting angle.

Source-to-image distance (SID) for size 4 film

The distance between the cone and the film which should be between $4$ and $6$ inches; exposure must be increased if the distance exceeds $4$ inches.

Maxillary fourth premolar ($108$ or $208$) anatomy

A triple-rooted tooth consisting of one large distal root and two smaller mesial roots.

SLOB Rule

An acronym for "same lingual opposite buccal," used to identify roots where the lingual root moves in the same direction as the cone and the buccal root moves in the opposite direction.

Mesiolateral oblique view

A view for maxillary premolars where the cone is directed from the mesial to distal aspect at approximately $30^{\text{\textdegree}}$ from the initial position.

Distolateral oblique view

A view for maxillary premolars where the cone is directed from the distal to mesial aspect at approximately $30^{\text{\textdegree}}$ from the initial position.

Feline maxillary anatomy modifier

In cats, the maxillary canine and incisor teeth are more upright than in dogs, meaning the root follows the same angle as the crown.

Modified parallel technique (Feline)

A specific feline maxillary premolar technique where the ET tube is secured to the mandible and the beam is directed perpendicular to the film from the front and ventral aspect.

Extraoral Technique (Feline)

A method for feline maxillary premolars using a size $2$ film positioned under the side to be radiographed, with the beam tilted $20^{\text{\textdegree}}$ to $25^{\text{\textdegree}}$ to bypass the opposite arcade.

Cone cutoff

A common error where the x-ray cone is not centered on the tooth, resulting in a portion of the image being missing.

Ankylosis

An abnormal dental pathology characterized by the fusion of the tooth root to the surrounding bone.

Supernumerary teeth

A condition identified on radiographs where the patient has a higher number of teeth than the normal dental formula.

Periapical lucency

A radiographic finding indicating abnormal pathology or infection at the tip of the tooth root.