Journal of Dental Medicine

Background and Aims: According to concerns of technical errors in intraoral radiographs and reports of positive effects of central ray laser pointer on the students, technical errors and shortcomings of earlier research, this study was conducted at Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology of Tehran Azad University to determine the role and use of laser pointer in the technical error made by students.

Materials and Methods: This clinical trials study was carried out at the Department of Radiology, Dental School of Azad Tehran University. A total of eighty students were divided into two groups of forty. In the first group the periapical technique was taught without laser guided indicator, while in the second group laser guided indicator was applied in training the students. All students took X-rays from the phantoms. Laser guided indicator is made of one low power red laser diodes.Totally 560 X-rays were taken and the technical errors and the quality of X-rays were evaluated. Data were analyzed statistically using Mann-Whitney and Chi Square tests (&alpha=0.05).

Results: The X-rays taken by students showed significant differences in cone cutting (P<0.001), and overlapping (P<0.001) between the two study groups. In the subjective review of X-ray quality, the difference was also significant (P=0.03).

Conclusion: The use of laser guided indicator as a training aid seems to be practical for easier learning of central ray adjustment and reduction of technical errors in taking X-rays by dental students.

Background and Aims: Dental diagnosis may be affected by the occurrence of the errors in the intra-oral radiographic images and the patients’ treatment plan can be problematic in these cases. The repetition of these radiographs increases the risks of radiation exposure for the patients in turn. The present study assessed the incidences of common periapical radiographic errors taken by dental students in oral and maxillofacial radiology department of Mashhad dental school in 2017.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 1470 periapical radiographs prepared by student during a semester of 2017 were collected and evaluated. Radiographic observations were done and the incidence of conventional radiographic errors were determined. Finally, the frequency and percentage of radiographic errors were determined based on the type of radiography sex, the age of the patient, and the history of radiography. Then, results were analyzed using the Chi-Square test and SPSS19 (P=0.05).
Results: Film placement (27.2%), cone-cut (27.2%), elongation (13.2%) and horizontal angle (10.9%) were reported as the most common radiographic errors. The repetition rate of the radiographs was 2.9%; among them, the highest errors were Cone-cut errors in the upper jaw
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, the most radiographic errors included film position and Cone-cut errors and these two errors were the most frequent cause of repetitive radiographies that required the provision of specific training for the prevention of these errors.