ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY
There are many advantages of digital radiographs. Digital radiography allows the dental team to take quality radiographs with ease and efficiency. No chemicals or waiting for x-ray film processing makes the time that the patient needs to be in the dental chair much less. This is especially important for the young or disabled patient.4 The size and shape of the sensor is important for the comfort for the patient. One digital x-ray company has cut the corners off of the sensor design (DEXIS) which aids in the comfort of the patient.
Quality Control and Image Enhancement
Another advantage is the quality of radiographs attainable. It is very frustrating and often embarrassing to receive poor quality radiographs from colleagues. The radiographic film was underdeveloped and the resulting poor quality is neither readable nor of archival quality. Imagine what our dental team felt about the quality of the dentistry from the dental office that sent us these x-rays. On the other hand, with the software from some digital radiography companies, the dental team can receive e-mailed radiographs and place them into patients’ digital radiographic records (Figures 6a and 6b).
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| Figure 6a. Underdeveloped x-ray film. | Figure 6b. Quality control with digital x-rays. |
Yet another advantage of digital radiography is the ability to enhance the radiographic view by enlarging, brightness control, and improvement of the contrast. This makes the digital radiograph more diagnostic to detect fractures, caries, periodontal conditions, tumors, and cysts.5