Panoramic Corporation offers a free app you can download from the iPad App Store to use as an educational tool with patients and staff. While Panoramic trains the entire staff when one of their machines is installed, they put this app together with two benefits in mind: refreshing dentist/staff training, and walking patients through the pan x-ray process.
The app covers 5 points for patients and professionals: (1) preparing for a pan; (2) correct steps for a diagnostic image; (3) educational/training videos; (4) 45 landmarks of a pan; and (5) sample pans. Patients can walk through the experience, learning everything from what a pan is to why dentists take them, the benefits and risks, the types of diagnoses pans enable (TMJ disorders, jaw fractures, periodontal disease and bone loss, erupting molars, impacted teeth, cysts, tumors, tooth movement in orthodontics, etc), and identifying the different anatomical structures of the oral cavity and head.
Several additional areas are covered for the dental professional, including the “extraoral bitewing image,” for people who are gaggers or otherwise can’t tolerate digital x-ray sensors, such as those with large tori, kids with smaller mouths, or elderly patients. Training and support videos and “important steps for a correct pan” are also geared toward the dental professional. The app contains a library of videos pertaining to the different Panoramic product lines (Encompass, PC-4000, PC-1000), including useful step-by-step tutorials on how to take a pan. For example, choose “patient positioning” and get a 2-minute refresher course on how to position the patient for a pan or cephalometric x-ray, and what the images should look like when they’re done correctly. The last section demonstrates the list below for successful pan x-ray technique, which will also help eliminate retakes so you can stay within the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) guidelines.
Important Steps for a Correct Pan
1. Remove objects (anything metal).
2. Position patient (how to guide them onto the platform, lower the chinrest, position the head, adjust the forehead support, etc).
3. Set the kVp according to the patient’s head size.
4. Tell patients to close their eyes, place the tongue on the roof of the mouth and swallow (to eliminate air pockets), and take the exposure.
Considering the investment a pan x-ray machine represents, Panoramic Corporation is committed to maintaining the dental professional’s ability to take quality x-rays. By making this app available at no charge, in addition to the information on their website, Panoramic wants to promote staying on top of training and following the steps properly, so that dental professionals can continue to get great images.
To download the app, go to the App Store on your iPad, type in Panoramic Corporation, and this intuitive tool will always be at your fingertips.