Researchers from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, in Tabriz, Iran, suggests that fruit strips could potentially improve the quality of dental X-rays.

To make this determination, the researchers examined roughly 270 dental X-rays from people who were instructed to hold their tongues against the roof of their mouths throughout the X-ray process. Of the 270 participants, 90 were X-rayed while holding their tongue in place using fruit strips or chewing gum, 90 held their tongues in place using medical tape, and 90 did not use adhesives at all to hold their tongues in place.

(A) From left to right an example of sour fruit leather (thickness: 1 mm), chewing gum (thickness: 1 mm) and celluloid matrix strip (thickness: 5 μm). (B) Approximate positioning of the strips. Source: Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1002/jmrs.753

The team reported that the radiographers took high-quality X-rays in 75% of the cases where patients used a sticky fruit strip as an adhesive to correctly place the tongue during imaging versus the 36% of cases wherein the patient's mouth did not contain an adhesive.

The fruit strip helped alleviate incorrect tongue placement that results in poor-quality dental X-rays that reportedly occur in 40% to 80% of imaging cases. This approach could potentially help patients save both time and money by reducing the need to take follow-up X-rays.

"When a person can't hold their tongue in place and the radiographer needs to re-take the X-ray, the patient has to spend more time and money, and gets exposed to more radiation," the researchers explained.

The findings were reported in the article, “Effect of using different strips on reducing the most common error in panoramic imaging: A randomised controlled trial on palatoglossal air space shadow,” which appears in the Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences.