Patient Positioning

The third component of technique error analysis is the determination of patient positioning errors. This is of critical importance because even small patient positioning errors can produce effects that can obscure areas of the image and result in the loss of diagnostic information.

Technique errors can easily be recognized by careful analysis of the position, relationship of structures, unsharpness and distortion in a panoramic image. The visual effects of incorrect patient positioning may be described according to whether they affect anatomic representation or features of the dentition.