Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Perfect Lateral and occlusal shots











Hi all.

In my courses, I teach folks how to get perfect lateral and full arch occlussal shots virtually every time, without too much trouble. Let's define "Perfect", by my standards.

For lateral shots: Capturing the arch at 90 degrees (for a true Angle's Classification) with the occlusal plane parallel and down the middle of the mirror and the contra-lateral central to the distal of the second molar.

For occlusal shots: The entire arch, centered without nose, cheek or tongue in the image (yes, I said tongue), 90 degrees to the arch with the buccal surfaces of the teeth visible on all teeth.

It's really important to make sure that the patient is properly positioned, and that your mirrors and retractors are properly aligned. I use specially adapted mirrors and retractors, but it is sooooo easy to do that.

If anyone is interested, let me know, and I'll give more tips, but I wanted to start by defining what it is that we're looking to acheive in what era usually considered the more challenging images in the standard series.

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