Effectiveness of orthopantomograph in vertical mandibular measurements

Objective: The purpose of this study is to review the literature to provide a better understanding of effectiveness of orthopantomogram in determining mandibular vertical measurements. Materials and Methods: A systematic review was conducted through the Medline database (Entrez PubMed), Web of Science, and Scopus. All the articles in which the primary objective was to investigate the effectiveness of orthopantomograph in diagnosing mandibular asymmetry in the vertical plane were included in the meta-analysis. Results: Out of 100 potentially relevant articles, only 18 met all the inclusion criteria. The rest all other articles were excluded that were not filling the initial selection criteria, and which did not actually address the accuracy of panoramic radiograph in assessing asymmetry with reasons. Conclusion: Caution is advised when using conventional or digital panoramic images to assess vertical measurements. Vertical measurements are usually more accurate than horizontal measurements and angular measurements, but still they are not the true representation of the real objects. Therefore, understanding the limitations of every form of panoramic imaging is required. Future studies with panoramic images generated from three-dimensional data are required to determine whether they overcome the limitations of conventional and digital panoramic images.