11. Digital Radiography

Benefits of Digital Radiography We do x rays just when is necessary • The film is immediately processed and available to view, whereas film takes a time to be developed. • Less radiation needed to produce the same quality image as a film (digital X-rays gives 70% less exposure to radiation than conventional X-rays). • You can enhance the digital image (such as alter brightness and contrast) with a series of processing techniques • Digital archiving—the ability to store images on a computer. • Digital radiography produces larger photos to better source hard-to-see cavities • Digital radiography, though expensive to buy initially, is cheaper and more environmentally friendly in the long run • Grey-scale of digital X-rays offers 256 shades of grey versus 16-25 shades in conventional radiography.

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Dental x-ray, showing all teeth

Particular benefits of digital radiography for the dentist’s office include improved comfort of intra-oral (photos were taken inside the mouth) X-rays, performed by intra-oral dental assistants, and less cranial exposure to radiation. Digital images are also easily stored on a computer and can be transferred to different dentists or orthodontists for referrals. Despite this, there are still certain benefits offered by film radiography, which is why so many dentist offices maintain their older machines.