Rotational panoramic radiography in epidemiological studies of dental health. Comparison between panoramic radiographs and intraoral full mouth surveys.

In conjunction with an epidemiological study of oral health in women the capacity of the panoramic radiograph to yield information on oral conditions was compared to that of the intraoral full mouth survey including posterior bitewing radiographs. Full mouth surveys and panoramic radiographs of 75 women were compared for gross characteristics such as distribution of teeth, missing teeth, restorations, and endodontic treatment as well as for osteolytic lesions at the root, marginal bone loss and carious lesions. A nearly 100% agreement was found for gross characteristics but also for osteolytic lesions associated with teeth and for marginal bone loss the agreement was good; osteolytic lesions at single rooted teeth 76%, multirooted teeth 90% and a coefficient of correlation of .96 for individual mean marginal bone scores. Poor agreement was found for carious lesions as only 36% of those extending well into the dentine were found both in the intraoral radiographs and in the panoramic radiographs. It may be included that, except for carious lesions, the panoramic radiographs can be considered a useful tool in epidemiological studies of oral health.