Vertical tomography of the temporomandibular joint with the use of a dental chair and intraoral x-ray unit

Abstract

While designs for tomographic imaging are numerous, there are no reports in the literature of a vertical tomographic device based on a principle of patient movement relative to a fixed x-ray source. A vertical tomographic device was constructed with the use of a conventional dental chair to generate tomographic movement and a variable kilovolt (peak) intraoral x-ray unit as the x-ray generator. The device was assembled with commonly available components and construction elements machined from standard metal stock. Images made with 5 × 7 inch cassettes with RP X-Omat film and regular intensifying screens were compared with similar images produced by a commercial linear tomographic device costing about five times as much. Comparison of images of the temporomandibular joint of a tissue-equivalent skull phantom produced by transcranial technique and prototype and control tomograms demonstrated superior imaging produced with tomographic techniques and similar image quality between prototype and control-generated films.