Frequency of Periapical and Bitewing Radiographic Errors in Faculty of Dentistry Shahid Sadoughi University of Yazd during 2016-2017

Abstract

Introduction: Reduction the error intraoral radiographic image is very important for accurate diagnosis of dental diseases and reduces the patient and clinician dose. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of intraoral radiographic errors made by students of Shahid Sadoughi Faculty of Dentistry in Yazd City. Methods: In this descriptive-cross-sectional study, 1900 samples of periapical radiographs were taken using digital periapical bisect angle method and bite-wing radiographs were evaluated. Patients referred to Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Department of Yazd Dental School in 2018-2019 were evaluated by simple sampling method. During 4 months, the researcher examined 25 radiographic images for cone cut errors, horizontal and vertical angles, and incorrect film placement. Also, if the radiography was repeated, the number and reason were also recorded. The recorded data were entered into SPSS version 16 software and the prevalence of each error was reported. Results: The errors in this study included incorrect film placement (32.4%), incorrect horizontal angle (28.2%), incorrect vertical angle (24.6%), cone cut (23.9%) and radiographic repetition rate (33%). In periapical radiograph, the frequency of errors was observed in maxilla (54.6%), mandible (45.4%), anterior (22.5%) and posterior (77.5%). The frequency of errors in bite-wing radiograph was estimated to be lower than periapical. Conclusion: Based on the results obtained in the study population, the most common error included incorrect placement and wrong horizontal angle, which were led to the most repeated radiographs and observed mostly posterior of maxilla, which emphasizes the need for further training to correct the errors.