Digital Radiography: A Critical Component of Your Future Success By: Lorin Berland, DDS

Since its introduction, digital radiography has steadily become more affordable, cost effective and user friendly. In addition, the quality of digital images and their effectiveness as a diagnostic tool, continue to improve with advances in computers and software applications. It’s gotten to the point where the benefits are so great I can’t imagine practicing dentistry without this wonderful technology.

There are three areas in particular where these benefits make film-based radiography not simply obsolete, but actually detrimental to a dental practice. These areas are:

• Helping us deliver on our responsibility to provide the best care for our patients

• Improving efficiency

• Enhancing patient education and comfort levels. Everyone from patients to staff and dentists themselves––benefits from digital radiography.

As healthcare providers, we have an obligation to provide the best care to our patients. This involves keeping abreast of clinical and technological advances in the field, making appropriate investments in equipment and staff training, and delivering as standard operatory procedure the improved services new technology makes possible.

When we look back on dentistry as it was practiced a half century ago, this might have meant installing the latest film-based x-ray equipment. While there have been incremental improvements in film x-rays during the past 50 years, if you’re still using film in your office, your practice isn’t much different from a dental practice of 1953. Digital radiography will enable you to make the leap into the present. Without it, you might as well be practicing back in the 1950s.

Increased efficiency is one of the many benefits you’ll realize by bringing your practice up to 21st century standards with digital radiography. Taking a traditional x-ray involves placing a film packet in the mouth, exposing the film packet, and waiting up to 15 minutes for it to develop. No doubt you’ve thought about how expensive it is to have one of your assistants or hygienists standing over a developer waiting for an image to appear on film.

With computerized digital radiography, there is no film, no developer, and no wait. The x-ray is displayed immediately and clearly on a computer monitor in sharp, vivid detail. And as we all know, the sooner the better! When I walk into the operatory and radiographs are instantly displayed on the screen for me to review with my patients––after I’ve already reviewed them and prepared my diagnosis, treatment and prognosis––they are always impressed.

Since no processor or chemicals are required for digital x-rays, there’s no mess for my staff to clean up in a darkroom. All of these timesaving factors enormously increase efficiency that’s essential for every successful dental practice. Increased efficiency translates into reduced costs and an improved bottom line.

The increased efficiency of digital x-ray technology also means no more mounting an entire set of x-rays in a holder each time. My practice’s DEXIS digital x-ray system automatically catalogs and digitally “mounts” each image, displaying it exactly as I’m used to seeing it. This capability, which can be customized to suit the requirements of individual dentists, is available only from Dexis. The enormous improvement in efficiency this feature brings is one of the most important reasons I purchased the Dexis system.

The images are saved on the computer for instant retrieval and can be instantly e-mailed to other dentists or insurance companies. There’s no longer the frustration of lost x-ray films or staff time wasted duplicating film. Printed copies can be given to patients to take with them when they travel or visit a specialist.

Digital x-rays eliminate the need for cumbersome file folders overflowing with charts and unorganized film packets. Instead of hunting through folders for tiny, difficult-to-identify pieces of film, my staff can now display specific radiographs for any patient with just a few computer keystrokes. This is technology they truly appreciate, and often tell me so.

Digital radiography also increases patient comfort levels and enhances patient education. Patients who are used to film typically view x-rays as a necessary evil, often seeing them as dangerous and unpleasant. Digital radiography reduces the risks associated with film x-rays, and patients quickly realize how much more pleasant the x-ray process is with digital. This changes their negative perceptions dramatically.

Patient safety and education go hand-in-hand. The more a patient knows about recommended treatments and procedures, the more comfortable he or she becomes. One of the first things I tell my patients is switching from high radiation film-based x-rays to low-radiation digital technology reduces their exposure risk greatly, often by as much as 80 percent. Digital radiography is, to put it plainly, the safest x-ray technology available. After being informed of the low radiation of my digital radiography system, my patients know their safety is foremost among my concerns.

Patients also notice the enhanced physical comfort they experience with my digital radiography system. The Dexis sensor’s specially rounded corners are much more comfortable than the sharp corners of film packets, and my patients often comment on the fact they’re not being poked by the new x-ray sensor. My emergency patients also appreciate the fact they don’t have to wait while x-rays are developed (and re-developed, in the case of accidentally blurred film images) before I can begin treatment. When I casually mention the many advantages of digital radiography, my patients are quick to remind me that digital is one of the reasons I’m their dentist.

But patient benefits go beyond safety and comfort. Once the x-ray is displayed on the computer screen, the Dexis software greatly enhances the ability to read the image and make a diagnosis. Among the tools available are the capabilities to enlarge an image and increase its contrast. You can also zoom in on a specific area of a tooth while maintaining high image quality. You can even change the color to clearly highlight any problems you’ve found. All of these capabilities––magnification, contrast enhancement, and color highlighting––enable you to use digital x-rays to detect and display cavities, cracks, and periodontal disease more quickly and with greater certainty than is possible with film.

Since patients can immediately view large, color-enhanced images along with you, patient education and understanding are improved. This in turn increases their trust and treatment acceptance. Patients can understand what they see, and you can discuss diagnosis and treatment options with them immediately. This allows them to be actively involved in their own care and makes them much more ready to go along with the treatment options you recommend.

Digital radiography is here to stay. The sooner you invest in a digital x-ray system, the sooner your practice and your patients will benefit. Everything you do to improve your practice sends a message, and installing a digital radiography system sends the right message, one of professionalism, responsibility, and concern for your patients’ well being.

Dr. Lorin Berland, DDS, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and currently maintains a private practice in Dallas, TX. He lectures nationally on practice-building cosmetic dentistry strategies and also is involved with developing new materials for several companies and laboratories.

Dr. Berland is the founder of denturewearers.com. He recently created the Lorin Library Smile Style Guide and The Latest & Greatest in Cosmetic Dentistry––A Full-Mouth Rehab in Two Appointments on DVD/VHS. He is a regular contributing author to all the leading dental journals and has been featured nationally in TIME, Reader’s Digest, GQ, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Mademoiselle, Vogue, US News and World Report and The Wall Street Journal. He has also recently appeared on the following television programs: Inside Edition, Fox Good Day and ABC’s 20/20. For more information, call (214) 999-0110 or visit his website at www.dallasdentalspa.com.