Can you read a Ceph?

Can you read a ceph? If you're like most dentists, then you can probably read portions of it. Having a ceph tracing for all your Ortho patients is very important, in many places it's a legal requirement. But many doctors find it too much trouble to send the patient off to the radiologist to have the ceph x ray done. But it's important to get into the habit of doing this for every ortho patient, no matter how minor the treatment. Then once the x ray is done, send it to the lab to have a computerized analysis done. Keep this with the patients records. Better still, make it a point to learn how to read the tracing and you'll be miles ahead of the average doctor and much more informed when it comes to making a decision on patient treatment.
Learning to read the ceph can be somewhat tedious but trust me, stick with it and you'll be very glad you did. There are many cephalometric analyses out there but my advice is to steer clear of analyses that compare everything to statistical norms. These compare everything to the average person, how does the 6ft athlete fit into that? The best analyses are those  that offer balanced numbers, those that inform you of where you need to be  to get the patient into balance. Probably the best analysis around is the Bimler Elite analysis. This will give you a ton of information in an easy to read format.
Whichever analysis you decide on,  make the time to learn as much about it as you can. Start with just one thing. When I was learning this, I would look at the ceph printout and say to myself, "Where is the Maxilla in relation to the anterior cranial base". Knowing just that one thing I could figure out the class of the Maxilla, if the prescribed appliance would need reverse pull headgear and more. Gradually I learnt more and more about the ceph printout  until I became very familiar with it.
Consider attending our next Ceph Course with Dr Skip Truitt in March 2014. It will run over 3 days and you won' regret it. Call Ortholab on 03 9830 7630 for more information.