The role of xeroradiography in cephalometric radiology.

The advantages of xeroradiography in the precise identification of anatomical landmarks for orthodontic analysis are overwhelming. In addition, the soft tissues of the face are shown fully and in detail. The tongue and soft palate can also be visualized. However, there is undue anxiety among clinicians and radiologists about the risk of excessive radiation exposure to patients. This has hitherto been regarded as unavoidable for the purposes of xeroradiography.This paper sets out in detail the advantages of xeroradiography for cephalometry and also clarifies the problem of patient exposure by presenting detailed measurements of the parameters affecting exposure and of the incident skin exposure. In this way it can be shown that by choice of correct kilovoltage and adequate filtration the incident skin exposure can actually be reduced when compared with conventional techniques using film.