Introduction: Panoramic dental imaging captures the entire oral cavity in a single image with very low doses of ionizing radiation. One of the most common errors in this imaging technique is the incorrect position of the tongue. On the radiograph, this appears as a dark band covering the roots of the teeth in the upper jaw. Purpose: The purpose of diploma work is to determine whether a poster, as a visual source of instructions, influences patients understanding and consequently reduces errors caused by incorrect tongue positioning. Methods: The research was conducted using a quantitative (experimental) research method. Initially, we reviewed 1500 images over a period of three months and then we created three different posters as visual instructions for the correct tongue position during panoramic dental imaging. These posters were displayed in the waiting area of the ZD Ljubljana for three months. Afterward, we analyzed an additional 1500 images taken during this period. Results: The results showed, that when the posters were not placed, 36.1 % of the patients had an incorrect tongue position, while with the posters placed, 36 % had an incorrect tongue position. However, there was an improvement in the correctness of the tongue position when radiograph, where air was present but not too much of it, was considered as incorrect, with the number of correct positions increasing from 34.1 % to 42 %. In terms of gender, both without and with the poster, females had slightly better results, and in terms of age groups, we found that children had the highest number of incorrect tongue positions in the pre-poster images (66 %), but the biggest improvement in this age group was in the post-poster images. Discussion and conclusion: Our study showed that poster placement had no significant effect on improving the correctness of tongue position in panoramic dental imaging, as the percentage of correct tongue position before and after the poster was almost the same. We did not observe statistically significant differences when analysed by gender, but we observed certain differences in the improvement of the correctness of the tongue position depending on the age group.
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