Evaluation of the reproducibility of two bitewing techniques by means of a microdensitometric recording method.

A new, simple, metal bitewing holder with a radiation dose-reducing collimator using principles suggested by Eggen is presented and recommended. The reproducibility of the bitewing holder technique was compared with that of the conventional bitewing loop technique. The material consisted of twenty seven sets (fifty four pairs) of radiographs. A microdensitometric method was developed and used to assess the reproducibility of the radiographs, and 108 pairs of microdensitometric tracings were produced to evaluate the two techniques. The results showed that the metal bitewing holder was significantly superior to the bitewing loop for obtaining radiographs with high reproducibility. The suitability of the microdensitometric method is discussed.