In order to provide your child with the best possible care, it is essential for our pediatric dentist to accurately evaluate and diagnose their oral health. One of the state-of-the-art tools we use to do that is the panoramic X-ray machine. While standard X-rays, called bitewing X-rays, provide us with a view of a few teeth and the supporting bone structure, panoramic X-rays allow us to view the full upper and lower dental arches — including all of the teeth, the upper and lower jawbones, and the surrounding facial structures. Using panoramic X-rays, our oral health professionals can:

• Assess the need for orthodontics and evaluate the progress of treatment
• Diagnose impacted teeth, including impacted wisdom teeth
• Determine the optimal time for having wisdom teeth extracted
• Analyze the development of periodontal disease
• Evaluate the TMJ (jaw joint) and diagnose a TMJ disorder
• Detect oral cancer
• Plan dental implant placement
• Diagnose abscesses and other dental problems, such as cysts and tumors
• Evaluate the extent of dental or facial trauma

Using the panoramic X-ray machine is fast and comfortable. The machine simply rotates around your child’s head and provides our pediatric dentist with images that we can then use to evaluate their oral health. We invite you to call or visit us today to learn more about panoramic X-rays.