Author: Dr. Shawneen Gonzalez

DDS, MS, Diplomate ABOMR
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Case of the Week: Dentigerous cyst

This week is a case of a quite large dentigerous cyst.  A dentigerous cyst will appear radiolucent surrounding the crown of an impacted tooth.  The teeth most commonly effected are the maxillary canines and third molars (both maxilla and mandible).  A pathognomonic sign of a dentigerous cyst is that the…
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Digital radiography: Spatial resolution

This weeks topic on digital radiography is spatial resolution.  Spatial resolution is the capacity for distinguishing fine detail in an image.  The term used to identify this is line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm).  The higher the spatial resolution, the greater the capacity for distinguishing fine detail.  An average observer is…
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Case of the Week: Radicular cyst

This week I have an example of a very large radicular cyst (sometimes referred to as a periapical cyst) that was encroaching on the maxillary sinus.  The patient presented with no symptoms during a new patient exam.  A pantomograph was made.  On the pantomograph, a well-defined ovoid radiolucent entity is…
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Digital radiography: Contrast resolution

This weeks topic on digital radiography is contrast resolution.  Contrast resolution is the ability to distinguish gray levels on an image.  The term used to identify how many gray levels that can be identified is bits.  When any number is in front of bits, such as 8 bits or 14…
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Case of the Week: Sialolith

This week I have a neat example of a sialolith on a pantomograph.  This was an incidental finding at a new patient exam.  Sialoliths tend to be single, but this case has multiple calcifications within the duct of the submandibular salivary gland.  On the pantomograph there are multiple, irregular shaped…