Abstract: PCT No. PCT/FR78/00011 SEC. 371 Date Mar. 26, 1979 Sec. 102(e) Date Feb. 28, 1979 PCT Filed July 18, 1978 PCT Pub. No. WO 79/00065 PCT Pub. Date Feb. 22, 1979An apparatus for panoramic radiography of a curved surface such as a dental arch, with an oscillating arm (17) holding an X-ray source (18) at one end and a film-carrier (20) at the other. The arm (17) is mounted free on an axle (16), called the third axle, which a mechanism causes to move along an elliptical trajectory adapted to the jaw of the patient. The arm is also driven in rotation around the third axle by a mechanism (stub 11, slot 24) connected to the primary axle (4) of the mechanism producing the ellipse so that it is always orthogonal to the ellipse. Film (19) is so driven as to prevent deformations of the panoramic projection. The ellipse is described at a variable speed to compensate for the absorption due to the cervical column.