ISSN 0975-8437 INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL OF DENTAL CLINICS 2011:3(4):47-49
INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL OF DENTAL CLI NICS VOLUME 3ISSUE 4 2011 47
Panoramic radiograph a valuable diagnostic tool in dental practice-Report of three cases Mathew Jose, Jomy Varghese Abstract Many pathologic conditions remain asymptomatic and observed only when they cause soft or hard tissue expansion or is secondarily infected. Routine panoramic views very often reveal hidden lesions other than those related to the patients chief complaint. The present case series reports three cases wherein pathologic conditions remain undetected due to lack of appropriate radiographic evaluation even after multiple dental procedures. Key Words: Panoramic Radiographs; Dental; Diagnostic Yield Introduction Routine panoramic views very often reveal hidden lesions other than those related to the patients chief complaint. There have been sporadic case reports of such incidental discovery of lesions.(1-3) Many pathologic conditions remain asymptomatic and observed only when they cause soft or hard tissue expansion or is secondarily infected. This delay in detection increases morbidity and mortality associated with the disease and treatment. It is prudent to evaluate indicated cases with radiographs prior to dental treatment which might reveal incidental pathologies/findings helping to achieve early diagnosis and treatment. The present manuscript reports three cases where pathologic conditions remain undetected even after multiple dental visits along with a discussion on the versatility of panoramic radiograph in screening and early detection of many clinical problems. Case 1 A 44 year old female patient reported to our center with a complaint of dull aching continuous pain in the left side of face for last two years. She had two decayed teeth in the left side of maxilla and underwent root canal treatment in a dental clinic. As the pain persisted she was referred to a maxillofacial surgeon for the management of temporomandibular joint pain. TMJ being found to be clinically normal she was referred to a periodontist who ruled out any periodontal involvement.
Clinical examination revealed fractured 25, 26 and mild obliteration of the upper buccal vestibule on the left side. Panoramic radiograph was advised which revealed endodontically treated 25, 26. Well circumscribed lesion with mixed radio opacity and radiolucency was observed apical to 25 and 26 pushing the maxillary sinus superiorly. Horizontally Impacted 18 was also observed deep to the alveolar crest. Lesion was enucleated under General anesthesia and submerged 18 was also removed. Histopathology examination of the lesion revealed a complex odontoma. Case 2 A 33 year old female patient was presented with pain and swelling on the right side of maxilla. She noticed the swelling one month back and took antibiotics as per her dentists advice. She had one of her lower tooth extracted 4 years back, oral prophylaxis was done two years back and amalgam filling on two teeth a year back.
Panoramic radiograph of the patient revealed impacted right maxillary third molar in the right maxillary sinus close to medial wall with well circumscribed radiolucency surrounding the crown of the impacted tooth. Lesion was enucleated along with removal of the tooth and histopathology report confirmed it as dentigerous cyst. Case 3 A 31 year female patient presented with abnormal mobility of two lower teeth (36 and 37) on left side which was restored five years back and had no history of extraction. Her left third molar was missing clinically.
CASE REPORT ISSN 0975-8437 INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL OF DENTAL CLINICS 2011:3(4):47-49 INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL OF DENTAL CLI NICS VOLUME 3ISSUE 4 2011 48 Panoramic radiograph was advised which revealed a very extensive multilocular radiolucent lesion extending from second premolar till condyle. Root resorption was noted on 35, 36 and 37. The 38 was found close to the coronoid process. Incisional biopsy revealed an ameloblastoma of follicular type. Discussion Panoramic images are useful clinically for those patients requiring broad coverage of the jaws, such as evaluation of trauma, extensive dental or osseous disease, known or suspected large lesions, location of third molars, evaluation of missing teeth, teeth development and eruption status, retained tooth and root tips in edentulous patients, maxillary sinus and temporomandibular joint afflictions and developmental anomalies like prognathism and retrognathism. Panoramic imaging is often used as the initial evaluation image that can provide the required insight and assist in determining need for other projections. One of the strengths of the panoramic image is the demonstration of the complete dentition and allows diagnosing gross abnormalities in number, position and anatomy of the teeth. Panoramic radiographs reveal the proximity of impacted teeth with vital structures like inferior alveolar canal, floor and posterior wall of maxillary sinus, maxillary tuberosity and adjacent teeth. Above all patients readily understand the image and are useful visual aid in patient education. In all three cases patients have visited dental clinics for various dental problems and taken routine dental treatments like oral prophylaxis, restorations, root canal treatments and extractions. Number of visits ranged from three to more than ten. None of the cases was evaluated with panoramic radiographs even in those patients with missing wisdom teeth and over retained deciduous teeth. Panoramic radiographs cover a broad area of facial bones and teeth with low radiation dose.(4) Relative exposures dose from panoramic radiography has been estimated at 6.7 microSv and 26microSv carrying an associated risk of inducing fatal cancer of 0.21 and 1.9 cases per million examinations respectively.(5) The main disadvantage of panoramic radiology is that the images does not display the fine anatomic details and so it cannot replace periapical radiograph or bite wing radiography in detecting small carious lesions or early periodontal and periapical lesions. Other problems include unequal magnification and geometric distortion across the image. The presence of cervical spine can obscure the image particularly in the incisor region.(6) Rushton et al suggested the following clinical factors as being the best predictors of a diagnostic yield of significance to treatment. Clinical suspicion of teeth with periapical pathology, presence of partially erupted teeth, clinically evident caries lesions swelling and clinically suspected unerupted teeth.(7) Asaumi et al observed lesions in 12.8% among 1092 patients in a retrospective study in pediatric population and among this 47.1 % had different lesions from those underlying the chief complaint.(1) Panoramic radiographs are a valuable tool in early identification of problems in dental development during the mixed dentition stage. This gives information regarding dental maturity, leeway space, the eruption of permanent teeth, anomalies and developmental disturbances.(8) Panoramic radiographs are used in assessment of root length and tooth axis prior to orthodontic treatment. It has been observed that the mean length measured were higher than the actual length by 22% for maxillary teeth and 1% by mandibular teeth.(9) There is a chance of overlooking significant dental abnormalities in the premaxillary area in a panoramic radiograph even though the chance is 43%.(10) Panoramic radiographs are used in forensic age estimation of unaccompanied minors, but this should be combined with hand and collar bone radiographs for better accuracy.(11) Mucosal thickening and mucosal antral cysts in the maxillary sinus are very frequent incidental finding in panoramic radiographs, dental infections are highly correlated with antral mucosal thickening.(12) Panoramic radiographs reveal calcified carotid artery atheromatous lesions in diabetic patients and help the dentist for appropriate referral for diabetic care.(13) Alteration of mandibular inferior cortical width and shape in panoramic radiographs in post- menopausal women is an accepted predictor of spinal osteoporosis.(14) A reliable diagnostic accuracy in panoramic radiographs is observed in preoperative evaluation of the relationship between third molars and the inferior alveolar canal.(15) Careful observation of panoramic radiographs could reveal temporomandibular joint pathologies like aneurismal bone cyst, traumatic bone cyst, and synovial chondramatosis and TMJ arthrosis.(16) Conclusion Panoramic radiographs are indeed a valuable tool in early detection of lesions in the maxillofacial area. Considering the radiation dose involved in the panoramic radiograph, and its diagnostic yield, routine examination by panoramic ISSN 0975-8437 INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL OF DENTAL CLINICS 2011:3(4):47-49 INTERNATIONAL J OURNAL OF DENTAL CLI NICS VOLUME 3ISSUE 4 2011 49 radiograph on the initial clinical visit may be useful in early detection of various pathologic conditions. Authors Affiliations: 1. Dr. Mathew J ose, Professor and Head, 2. Dr. J omy Varghese, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of OMFS, Sree Mookambika Institute of Dental Sciences, Kulasekharam, Kanyakumari Dist, Kerala, India. References 1. Asaumi J I, Hisatomi M, Yanagi Y. Evaluation of panoramic radiographs taken at the initial visit at a department of pediatric dentistry. Dento maxillofacial radiology 2008;37:340-343. 2. Ribas Mde o, de Sausa M H Zanferrari F L, Lanzoni T. Osteochondrom of the mandibular condyle: literature review and report of a case. J Contemp Dent Pract 2007;8:52-59. 3. Dvori S, Shogat Y, Taicher S. Simple bone cyst in the mandible a rare occurrence in an elderly patient. Refuat Hapeh Vehashinayim2006;23:27-30. 4. Frederiksen N, Benson B, Sokolowski T: Effective dose and risk assessment from computed tomography of the maxillofacial complex, Dent Maxillofac Radiol1995;24:55-58. 5. Frederiksen N L, Benson B W, Sokolowsky T W: Effective dose and risk assessment from film tomography used for implant diagnostics, Maxillofac radiol1994;23:123-127. 6. Lida Radfar: Routine Dental panoramic radiographs not necessary,News: J AmDent Assoc136: 5:584. 7. Rushton VE, Horner K, Worthington H V: Routine panoramic radiography of new adult Patients in general dental practice: Relevance of diagnostic yield to treatment and identification of radiographic selection criteria. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2002;93:488-95 8. Hudson.A.P, Harris.AM, Mohamed.N: The Mixed dentition pantomogram: a valuable dental assess- ment tool for the dentist.SADJ 2009;64:480-39 9. Lien LC, Soh G:Accuracy of the orthopantomogram in assessment of tooth length in orthodontic patients, Singapore Dent J 2000: 23: 68-71 10. Mattick CR, Carter NE, Gordon PH . The diagnostic value of routine intra-oral premaxillary radiographs in orthodontic assessment. Int J Paediatr dent1999: 9:161-8 11. Schmeling A, Reisinger W, Geserick G, Olze A. Age estimation of unaccompanied minors. Forensic Sci Int2006: 159:S61-4 12. Vallo J , Suominen-Taiplae, Humonen S. Prevalence of mucosal abnormalities of the maxillary sinus and their relationship to dental disease in panoramic radiography: results from the health 2000 health examination survey. Oral surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol endod2010 :109: e 80-7 13. Dolatabadi MA, Motamedi MH, Lassemi E et al. Calcified carotid artery atheromas on panoramic radiographs of dental patients with diabetes. J Calif Dent Assoc 2010:38:187-92 14. Akira Taguchi, Yoshikazu Suei, Mitsuhiro Sanada et al. Validation of Dental panoramic radiography measures for identifying postmenopausal women with spinal osteoporosis. AJ R 2004: 183:1755-1760 15. Momen A. Atieh. Diagnostic accuracy of panoramic radiography in determining relationship between inferior alveolar nerve and mandibular third molar. J Oral Maxillofac Surg2010: 68: 74-82 16. Yoshikazu Suei, Akira Taguchi, Keiji Tanimoto. Role of panoramic radiographs in differential diagnosis of patients with temporomandibular dysfunction.Oral Radiol1997:13:93-98 Address for Correspondence Dr. Mathew J ose, MDS, Professor and Head, Dept .of OMFS, Sree Mookambika Institute of Dental Sciences, Kulasekharam, Kanyakumari Dist. Email: matjosein@yahoo.co.uk
Source of Support: Nil, Conflict of Interest: None Declared