The acceptability of five periapical radiographic techniques to dentists and patients

Dentists are now advised to use film holders as an aid to intra-oral radiography. The aim of this investigation was to compare a range of commercially available film holders for periapical radiography with the traditional bisecting angle technique using the patient's finger as support for the film, in terms of the ease of use for the dentist and patient comfort. Twelve general dental practitioners (GDPs) were asked to perform 50 periapical examinations using their conventional (bisecting angle) technique (BA) followed by 50 using, in turn, four film holders: the Stabe (S), the Eggen (E), the Rinn (R) and the 'Superbite' devices (SB). There was no difference between BA, S and SB techniques in terms of difficulty experienced by the GDPs. However, both E and R film holders led to an increase in examinations reported as 'difficult' to perform. There was no difference in patient discomfort between the BA and SB techniques, but the use of the E and R film holders and, to a lesser degree, the S film holder was associated with increased discomfort. There was no consistent association between dentists' assessments of examinations as 'difficult to perform' and patients' opinions on discomfort. It is concluded that SB film holders provide a simple means of intraoral radiographic positioning with no increase in patient discomfort.