title: A new bite block for panoramic radiographs of anterior edentulous patients: A technical report.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Panoramic radiographs taken using conventional chin-support devices have often presented problems with positioning accuracy and reproducibility. The aim of this report was to propose a new bite block for panoramic radiographs of anterior edentulous patients that better addresses these two issues.
  
  
  METHODS
  A new panoramic radiography bite block similar to the bite block for dentulous patients was developed to enable proper positioning stability for edentulous patients. The new bite block was designed and implemented in light of previous studies. The height of the new bite block was 18 mm and to compensate for the horizontal edentulous space, its horizontal width was 7 mm. The panoramic radiographs using the new bite block were compared with those using the conventional chin-support device.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Panoramic radiographs taken with the new bite block showed better stability and bilateral symmetry than those taken with the conventional chin-support device. Patients also showed less movement and more stable positioning during panoramic radiography with the new bite block.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Conventional errors in panoramic radiographs of edentulous patients could be caused by unreliability of the chin-support device. The newly proposed bite block for panoramic radiographs of edentulous patients showed better reliability. Further study is required to evaluate the image quality and reproducibility of images with the new bite block.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Woong
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Department of Basic Science, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Health Sciences, Vientiane, Laos.
authors.forename: Khanthaly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Symkhampha
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung-Hoe
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Won-Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Suk
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sam-Sun
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Soon-Chul
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Choi
keywords: Bite Block; Panoramic, Radiography; Reproducibility of Results