Evaluation of the effect of using celloluidal matrix and edible strip on reducing palatoglossal air space shadow error of panoramic imaging in referal patients to Tabriz dental faculty in 2020-21

Abstract

Introduction: Panoramic radiography is one of the most important diagnostic tools in dentistry and its image quality can be impaired by some errors such as positioning errors. Palatoglossal air space shadow error is the most common cause of positioning errors and its due to the tongue not sticking to the roof of the palate. To date, no intervention has been performed to help stick the tongue to the roof of the palate during panoramic imaging. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of using celluloid matrix tape and edible tapes (fruit leather and chewing gum) on reducing the palatoglossal air space shadow error in panoramic imaging. Methods and Materials: This randomized clinical trial study was performed on 270 patients, who were referred to Tabriz Dental School during 2020-2021. To stick the tongue to the palate before panoramic imaging, 90 patients used celluloid tapes, 45 patients used fruit leathers, and 45 others used chewing gums. 90 patients were considered as a control group and routine imaging process was performed on them. Finally, the resulting panoramic images were compared between the study groups in terms of the incidence of palatoglossal air space shadow error. The effect of age and sex on the results was also investigated using a logistic regression model. Results: The mean age of patients was 36.33±14.21 years. 56.3% of them were women and 43.7% were men. The highest and lowest numbers of error-free images belonged to the edible tapes (75.56%) and control (36.67%) groups, respectively. The number of error-free images in each of the fruit leather, chewing gum and celluloid tape groups were significantly higher than the control group (all cases P <0.05). The chances of error-free images in the fruit leather and celluloid tape groups were the highest (9.57 times) and the lowest (5.36 times), respectively, compared to the control group. Age (P=0.136) and gender (P=0.272) of patients had no significant effect on the results of interventions. Conclusion: The application of fruit leathers, chewing gums and celluloid tapes, especially fruit leathers which are a very cheap and available item, is recommended to stick the tongue to the palate during panoramic imaging.