Basic Principles of Paralleling Radiography

Radiography as it relates to dentistry refers to taking images of a patient's teeth to aid the dentist in diagnosing and treating problems of the teeth and gums. Paralleling refers to one technique that is utilized to produce the best image possible, as the dentist not only requires an image, but demands that the image give him the best view of his patient's teeth.

Film and Tooth Alignment

• According to the Foundations in Continuing Dental Education, the avoidance of shadows on X-rays is an important concept, and one in which paralleling radiography can be of great assistance. The key to paralleling is aligning the film and the long axis of the tooth in a parallel manner, which will produce the least shadow on the film.

Distance

• As reported in the National Institutes of Health, to fully take advantage of the paralleling technique, the distance between the source of the radiation, the X-ray equipment and the film must be as far as possible. Likewise, increasing the distance between the film and the teeth allows for the paralleling effect.

Perpendicular

• After aligning the tooth and film and moving the source as far away from the film as possible, the final principle is to direct the beam of the source, the X-ray, perpendicular to the alignment of the film and tooth. As stated in Dental Compare, this will produce the best image.