Month: September 2011

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Case of the Week: Ossified stylohyoid ligament

This week will show a common anatomical variant – an ossified stylohyoid ligament.  This can occur unilaterally or bilaterally.  This is an incidental finding.  Many students tend to jump to Eagle’s syndrome as soon as they see an ossified stylohyoid ligament; however for Eagle’s syndrome to be considered the patient…
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x ray unit settings: milliampere (mA)

This week will be covering the milliampere or mA setting on an x ray unit.  Changing the mA affects the QUANTITY of x rays produced.  Some units have a fixed mA (typically in the range of 7 – 12) and some are changeable (from 5 – 15).  For those units…
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Case of the Week: Mesiodens

This week I have a fun case of two mesiodens that appear to be erupting towards the nasal cavity.  Mesiodens are supernumerary teeth (extra teeth) found in the anterior region.  Mesiodens are more common in the maxilla than the mandible.  They frequently disrupt eruption of other adjacent teeth.  This case…
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x ray unit settings: kilovoltage peak (kVp)

This is the beginning of a 4 week series going over the settings on a x ray unit and how they affect image quality.  The first topic I am going to cover is kilovoltage peak or kVp.  Changing the kVp on a unit is directly associated with the overall contrast…
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Case of the Week: Mandibular Tori

This week I have a case of a common anatomical variant; mandibular tori.  Mandibular tori can be evident on any mandibular periapical as well as bitewing radiograph.  Mandibular tori will appear rounded over the roots and apices on anterior periapicals.  On posterior periapicals, a increased radiopaque area is seen near…