Your dentist just asked you for a pano and if you are like most patients, you don't know a pano from pantyhose. And no, it's not some kind of French bread. We've all had film or digital x-rays taken at least once in our lives, but many patients
are unaware of the importance of having a strange new x-ray (since 1985) casually
referred to by dentists as a pano.
Panoramic radiographs
(aka or tomographic x-ray) show an ear to ear 180 degree view of the patient’s
jaws and all the teeth as well as much of the head and neck anatomy.
The machine used is
different than the standard x-ray unit as the patient generally stands while
the x-ray unit travels on a semi-circular track around the patient’s head.
