Dental Radiography · NEBDN certificate
Radiographic Anatomy
Maxillary and mandibular landmarks, panoramic shadows, and the developing dentition on film.
Reading what is actually on the image. It covers the maxillary and mandibular landmarks you are expected to name, the normal appearances and superimposed shadows that are easy to mistake for pathology, the ghost and air shadows peculiar to panoramic images, and the developing dentition as it appears radiographically. A large share of this topic is set as extended matching questions, because naming a structure from a described appearance is exactly what the assessment wants to test.
What this topic covers
These are the sub-topics the app's 35 questions for this topic are grouped into, with the number of questions on each. They are a fair map of where the weight sits.
| Sub-topic | Questions |
|---|---|
| Anatomy of the developing dentition | 7 |
| Normal appearances and superimposed shadows | 6 |
| EMQ: Maxillary radiographic landmarks | 5 |
| EMQ: Panoramic shadows and their structures | 5 |
| EMQ: Mandibular radiographic landmarks | 4 |
| Mandibular radiographic landmarks | 4 |
| Maxillary radiographic landmarks | 4 |
Sub-topics beginning “EMQ” are extended matching questions: one stem, one right answer, and a list of up to 9 options to choose it from. They are testing whether you can discriminate between neighbouring answers, not whether you recognise the right one.
Study guide
Before you can rate an image you have to know what is normally on it. This topic covers the landmarks you are expected to name, the shadows that mimic pathology, and the developing dentition as it appears radiographically. It is set heavily as extended matching questions, because naming a structure from a described appearance is exactly the skill in question.
Maxillary landmarks
The upper jaw carries the larger set of named radiographic landmarks.
- Learn each landmark by its radiographic appearance — radiolucent or radiopaque, and where it sits relative to the teeth.
- Several maxillary structures are examined as their own extended matching set; practise naming them from descriptions rather than from a labelled diagram.
- Air-containing spaces appear radiolucent and are a frequent source of confusion with pathology.
Mandibular landmarks
A smaller set, but examined in the same appearance-first way.
- Canals and foramina appear as defined radiolucencies in predictable positions — position is what distinguishes them.
- Bony ridges and lines appear as radiopaque bands, and are distinguished by their course.
- Mandibular landmarks also carry their own extended matching set.
Normal appearances and superimposed shadows
The structures that look like a problem but are not, and the artefacts panoramic imaging adds.
- Superimposition of one structure over another creates appearances that are normal but unfamiliar.
- Panoramic imaging produces its own shadows, including ghost and air shadows, and the assessment asks you to attribute a shadow to its structure.
- Recognising an appearance as normal is examinable in its own right, not just as a step towards finding pathology.
The developing dentition
The largest sub-topic here. A developing dentition looks alarming if you have only ever seen adult films.
- Developing tooth germs, open apices and resorbing roots are normal at the right stage and abnormal at the wrong one — stage is the examinable variable.
- Sequence and approximate timing of development underpin several questions.
- This overlaps with the orthodontic certificate’s Growth and Classification topic; if you are taking both, revise them together.
In the exam Almost everything here is tested as "name the structure from this description". Revise by covering the labels on an anatomy diagram and naming structures from their appearance and position, not by reading labelled images — recognition with the label visible feels like knowledge and is not the skill being assessed.
This topic's questions are in the app
The free tier does not unlock any of the 35 questions for this topic, so there is no quiz to run here — and publishing one anyway would give away more than the app itself does. The study guide above is free to read in full.
To practise this topic, get the app. Or start with one of the topics that are free here .
For iPhone, iPad and Android.
Carry on with
Physics and Dose
X-ray production, dose quantities and limits, biological effects, justification and optimisation.
IR(ME)R and Legal Duties
Duty holders and their functions, justification and authorisation, employer’s procedures and records.
Projection and Technique
Intra-oral technique and holders, panoramic preparation, receptors, shielding, and dental CBCT.
Revise anywhere, with the whole Radiography & Post-Reg bank
This site publishes the app's free sample — 48 of 780 questions, across 4 of 17 topics. Dental Radiography & Post-Reg carries the full bank offline across all 4 certificates, so you can revise on the bus, between patients, or the night before.
- All 780 questions
- Every question across all 4 certificates, including the 13 topics this site cannot unlock.
- 75-question mock test
- Timed at 90 minutes, drawn from one certificate at a time.
- An explanation every time
- Every answer explains itself and cites where it comes from, right or wrong.
- Progress you can see
- History and per-topic results show which certificates still need the work.
For iPhone, iPad and Android.
