Common Intra Oral Radiographic Errors Made by Dental Students

Retakes of intra oral radiographs happen frequently in dental practice although radiographic courses train dental students in consecutive semesters. To reduce the patient exposure as much as possible it is mandatory to reduce the number of retakes both in radiology clinics and educational centers. 3188 periapical radiographs taken by bisect-angle technique was evaluated in this cross-sectional study to assess the frequent errors necessitating retakes. Views were taken by fourth year dental students using bisect angle method. Errors were tabled according to site and type. The four major errors that were found in the study included incorrect film placement (35.4%), cone cutting (18.2%), incorrect horizontal angulation (16.6%), and incorrect vertical angulation (14.4%). The distribution of technical errors by anatomic location was identified. Maxillary molar area was the most occurring site for errors. These results suggest that educational programs may be re-evaluated to make the best benefit of educational courses involving both dental and hygiene students.