What is an OPG?
An OPG is also called Orthopantomography, panoramic radiography, or a pantogram.

It gives a 'panoramic' or 'wide' image of the lower half of your face. It shows:

• all the teeth , top and bottom in one image
• This includes un-erupted teeth, such as supernumeries and wisdom teeth.
• you can also see the mandible and maxilla which are the upper and lower jawbones.
• you can also see temporomandibular joint (TMJ) which is the connection between the skull and the moveable lower jawbone.

What are x-rays?

An OPG requires a short blasts of radiation to decipher what is happening inside your body. It is good at telling what is bone and teeth, not so much detail is visible in soft tissues.

How to get an OPG taken:

Firstly you'll be asked to remove any metal that you are wearing above your shoulders. This is because the metal absorbs x-rays and stops it from reaching the sensor. Therefore it blocks out the view of anything behind the metal object, and because the image is a 2D images of a 3D object, as it the sensor spins round a second shadow of the metal will be picked up which may obscure something that we want to see on the scan.

Step 1 - rest your chin on a chin rest on the OPG machine

Step 2- bite into a groove on a sterile mouthpiece

Step 3 - we will align lasers and position you to ensure the correct positioning with minimal overlap of the various structure that we need to see.

Step 4 - the machine rotates around you whilst you hold still taking various images at different positions. There is no discomfort.

This takes about 3 seconds only.

Step 5- the image is processed and available to view and copy virtually immediately.

Why do we take OPGs?
OPGs can assess all of the teeth at once. We can see unexcepted things such as cysts and infections in the jaws. We can assess the health of the teeth before moving them before teeth straightening. We can visualise wisdom teeth and work out the best way of taking them out. We can see implants. We can check the sinuses and see how thick the sinus lining is, and whether it is safe to do a sinus lift. We can check the bone health / levels around teeth. We can see the TMJ and whiter it is healthy.

Why us ?

We use the latest technology in our machines. They do not require the films, but are digital. This means that the results are instant - we do not need to develop them. We do not suffer the issues of development and poor quality images that is associated with this. They are also efficient at getting high-quality images every time. This reduces how many repeat scans are needed. Therefore it is safer !