Abstract: Objective: To discuss the method of improving the quality of panoramic tomography. Methods: 498 digital radiographs taken from the hospital were selected, which were divided into permanent dentition group, mixed dentition group, and edentulous dentition group. The common errors made in the digital panoramic radiographs were analyzed. Results: In the mixed dentition group, the mean number of errors per radiograph was significantly higher than that in the permanent dentition radiographs and edentulous dentition radiographs. The errors of “the chin is tipped too high”, “patient's neck is stretched forward on a slant”, and “tongue is not on the plate” were significantly more prevalent in the edentulous dentition group. Children with mixed dentitions were prone to moving and positioning heads too backward during the radiograph procedure. Conclusion: Properly positioning the patients with different types of dentitions is the most important factor in preventing a cascade of errors and improving imaging quality.

Key words: Panoramic radiography, Imaging quality, Positioning errors, Imaging diagnostics