Digital Radiography?

Any dentists out there use Digital Radiography? What are the pros and cons?

Any patients had X-Rays taken with a Digital Radiography machine? What is your opinion?

Digital is great! Expensive but great. No more waiting for developing, no more messy and dangerous chemicals, no more mislabeled films falling out of charts. Instant view, great diagnostic quality and easy sharing with insurance companies and other providers.

Scanners are fine, but there is still extra labor involved and the scanners need to be replaced often.

With digital, every person in the office can see the x-ray at the same time from any workstation. You can't do that with film.

Yes, the sensors are hard plastic and some patients complain about comfort, but it is something most technicians get good at eventually. Once the patient understands they are receiving far less radiation than with film, they are usually OK with the slight discomfort of a hard sensor.

Sensors cost between $1500 and $6000 each, along with software and technical support. It can cost a dental practice between $20,000 - $50,000+ to convert. I believe there is a return on investment fairly soon without the developer, duplication equipment, chemicals, film, darkroom space and TIME.

Cost is the biggest "con" along with patient comfort. I believe both can be recovered.

I have used the digital x-rays, and I can say it is GREAt in the aspect of you see your picture on the screen about 5 seconds after you push the button, rather than waiting 4 minutes for it to be developed. But they are harder to manuver the sensor and keep it in place. I also did not like the fact that you have to cover the sensor every time with the balloon. Compared to just grabing a mount or snap a ray. Also sometimes you cannot see little detail as well.

We use the Gendex DenOptix cordless system in our office. The sensors are the same size as traditional films. They fit in normal XCP holders. Once exposed, they need to be scanned. A darkroom is not required, but a room where you can turn the lights down is necessary for transferring them into the scanner. The sensors scan for about 1 to 4 minutes depending on how many and what size sensors you use. The diagnostic quality is great and theres many tools to use. Magnification, thermo-imaging, adjust the density, the computer even calculates any measurements you may need. Once all sensors have been scanned, you remove them from the scanner and leave them out in the light for at least 4 minutes to clear the previous image. Very easy to use. The only con is not getting as instant of an image as the wired system. Other than that, we love it!

I've had digital x-rays taken recently and for the most part they're a lot better than the traditional x-rays. It's a little tough to keep perfectly still for a few seconds--but the result is so clear. Also, and maybe it was just my imagination, but it seemed to take a bit longer (meaning I had to take more) x-rays... again the clarity of the x-rays and the lack of radiation exposure were well worth it.

Personally don't use it, but I have asked Dentists that I know about it and they use it when the are performing root canals. They say it is good as you can adjust the image and it is fast to use. But they also say that for diagnosing small carious lesions they prefer the old system as they get better contrast.