panoramic radiography: a tool for evaluation of orthodontic patients' sagittal and vertical skeletal relations

background: malocclusion, as a worldwide issue, can cause a lot of problems for patients. panoramic (pr) and lateral cephalometric (lcr) radiographs are both usually indicated for orthodontic treatments. the aim of this study was to analyze vertical and sagittal parameters of both jaws on prs and to compare them on lcrs. materials and methods: in this cross sectional study, 61 samples from all patients referring to the department of orthodontics of shiraz dental school were selected by simple randomized sampling method, meeting specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. correlations between variables on prs and lcrs were assessed. results: vertical angular variables on pr such as h-line/lower1-lower6 and condylar plane/corpus line were related to some vertical variables on lcr including anterior nasal spine(ans)-menton(me), orbitale-me, ans-posterior nasal spine (pns)/gonion (go)-me, frankfort horizontal (fh)/ans-pns, gonial angle, go-gnathion (gn)/sella-nasion and fh/occlusal plane (p˂0.05). sagittal variables of maxilla on pr such as pterygomaxillare (pm)-pm, pm-ht, pm-ht-pm, and ans-pm were related to sagittal variables of maxilla on lcr including maxillary length, sella/nasion/point a, point a/nasion/point b (p˂0.05).  conclusion: our results revealed that prs can provide information on vertical and sagittal dimensions of both jaws. this may help choosing a proper imaging protocol for the patients.