ABSTRACT

This chapter deals with two-dimensional (2D) radiography applied in dentistry. “Dentistry” is interpreted in this context to include radiographic 2D-imaging of the entire dento-maxillofacial anatomical complex: the maxilla, the mandible, and infraorbital region. Alternatively, this anatomical complex is also termed the “dentomaxillofacial region” (or “dentomaxillofacial complex”). In this chapter, the term dental radiography will be used for conciseness and consistency, although various alternative names are sometimes used. In this sense, dental radiography comprises all techniques included in dental and oral and maxillofacial radiography. Dental radiography has always played an integral role in the process of dental diagnostics and treatment. Assessment of early stages of carious lesions is a typical example for very basic and routine radiographic diagnostics. Many dental treatment procedures, such as endodontic (root canal) treatment, dental implant placement, or surgical removal of retained or ectopic teeth, rely on radiographic images as fundamental information, without which these treatments would hardly be feasible at all. Chair-side radiographic equipment is required to enable such treatment, which inherently relies on the radiographic assessment of intermediate and/or final treatment steps. These factors made dental radiographs in many countries to be the most frequently acquired radiographic images among all medical radiographs (European Commission 2008). Consequently, in many countries, roughly one-third of all radiographic images are related to dentistry (European Commission 2008). Given the global distribution of dental radiography and its extensive application in a high percentage of the global population, dental radiography largely contributes to the entire share of global medical X-ray imaging. The transition from film-based to digital techniques over the last two decades fundamentally changed techniques, and also their application in dental imaging. This chapter attempts to summarize the historical background of dental radiography, and to provide an overview of the anatomical targets that are involved with it. In addition, the two-dimensional (2D) techniques are explained together with their technical background, which is sometimes unique (e.g., in panoramic radiography). Dose issues as well as radiation protection measures are also discussed in this chapter. The chapter covers intra- as well as extraoral radiographic techniques, and also provides typical example images. It concludes with an outlook on future perspectives as they are foreseeable at the time of writing in the middle of the second decade of the twenty-first century.