Bitewing radiographs of children taken with and without a film-holding device.

To help minimize radiation exposure, all dental radiographs must yield maximum diagnostic information. Film-holding devices have been recommended as a means of improving the diagnostic yield. Our study compared the diagnostic quality of bitewing radiographs of children taken with and without the aid of a film-holding device. 1014 bitewing radiographs (sizes 0, 1, 2) were taken of 338 children (aged 5-11 years) by senior dental students. Bitewing tabs were used for 554 radiographs and a film-holding device for the remainder. Diagnostic quality was calculated for each radiograph by dividing the number of non-overlapped contacts by the total number present. Both overall mean diagnostic yield and mean diagnostic yield for each size of film were found not to be significantly improved by use of the film-holding device. Position of overlapped contacts on each size of film was not equally distributed (P less than or equal to 0.01) among the contacts present. For size 0 and 1 films, overlap was most frequent between the maxillary first and second primary molars and for size 2 films between the maxillary first permanent molar and second primary molar/second bicuspid.