Patent Number: 
Section: abstract

An apparatus for use in the field of dentistry consisting of a rotatable c-arm assembly having a housing with an emitter on one end and a fluoroscopic image receptor at another end, a control panel, three mechanical arms connecting the housing and the control panel to each other, an intraoral image receptor and a plastic holder device for the intraoral image receptor. The apparatus has the improved feature of having two modes of operation, a fluoroscopic mode or a conventional radiographic mode. The mode of operation is selected by the operator by a foot pedal for use in fluoroscopic mode, or a hand activator control for use in conventional mode. A beam of x-rays or gamma rays is emitted from the housing corresponding to the selected mode. The beam is incident on the fluoroscopic image receptor or on the intraoral image receptor and the image is converted to visible light, amplified and transmitted to a computer monitor and/or television set and VCR, thus allowing the observation of dental procedures in real time.