Dental X-rays are following the lead of still cameras for a growing number of dentists. The X-rays are now digital, and the images are displayed immediately on a computer monitor, said Thomas Roberts DDS, who switched last October to the high-tech system at his Queen Anne dental practice.
"I held out for a long time because the quality of the original sensors wasn't very good," he said. The equipment he uses now is much better, Roberts said: "The quality of the films just went through the roof, it was so good."
Roberts also likens his decision to wait for improvements in the digital technology to the battle between Blue Ray and high definition video formats. "The problem is, if you pick one, you're stuck with it," he said.
There are obvious advantages to digital X-rays, he said. "If you don't get the picture right, you can take another one right away." That immediacy saves on labor costs connected to developing X-ray film, Roberts added.
Another big plus is that Roberts doesn't need to use and recycle chemicals to develop the traditional X-ray film, a process that used to cost him thousands of dollars a year, he said.
Even better, Roberts estimates that the power needed for his X-ray source with the digital system is around 50 percent or less of what he needed for the old film X-rays, "which is a significant number."
The computer images also can be manipulated to get a better view of teeth, and the images can be e-mailed to specialists, for example, something he does all the time now with root-canal specialists, Roberts said.
He bought two of the digital sensors that are hooked up to computers at his practice, and they cost anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000, Roberts said. But he figures the system will pay for itself relatively quickly with the money he'll save not buying and recycling chemicals.
"If it doesn't, it doesn't matter. I'll never go back," Roberts said. "It's a total paradigm shift. It's just fantastic."
Speaking on behalf of the Washington State Dental Association, dentist and Magnolia resident Vic Barry agreed. "It definitely is a sea change," he said.
Barry uses a different digital system for X-rays at his office. The sensors only cost $22 apiece, but they are read by a digital scanner that costs around $25,000, he said. "There's some technical advantages."
Barry estimates that more than 50 percent of dentists now use digital systems for X-rays, and he predicts that number will climb to more than 90 percent within five years.
Age also makes a difference in how the technology has been adopted, according to Barry. "I would say anybody coming out of dental school in the last few years, it's 100 percent," he said.
Older dentists are sometimes set in their ways and don't want to use the digital systems, but the idea is catching on, added Barry, who is a past president of both the Washington State Dental Association and the Seattle King-County Dental Society.
The two organizations, along with the American Dental Association, are promoting digital X-rays as "the standard of care," he said.
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.
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