Dental panoramic radiography – A Finnish invention

After the end of the Second World War in 1945, Yrjö V. Paatero, Doctor of Dental Science, worked at the University of Helsinki’s Institute of Dentistry, overseeing X-ray examinations and diagnostics. He longed to do research work, but had little time for it because his days were filled with routine tasks. At the time, dental X-rays were taken by placing a film in the patient’s mouth time and again because several X-rays had to be taken to determine the condition of the entire dentition. Paatero was keen to find a less time-consuming solution, and the seed of the idea of panoramic radiography began to germinate. However, the road to this point had been far from simple, and several stumbling blocks still remained.

A woman sitting on a chair with a metal contraption encircling her head. On her right is an X-ray camera and on the left a man in a white coat is adjusting a curved X-ray film placed on a stand.
A pantomograph being used at the University of Helsinki’s Dental Clinic on Fabianinkatu street. Yrjö. V. Paatero on the left. The photo is from an article published in the Uusi Suomi newspaper in 1953. Photo: Yrjö V. Paatero Archives, privately owned.

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