Advantages of Digital Radiography

By Nicole Greco, BSDH, MA

Radiography is an essential part of the dental hygiene process of care—playing an important role in assessment, diagnosis, ­planning, implementation, and documentation.Radiographs are integral to the evaluation of treatment outcomes. While film-based imaging is still used in dentistry, digital imaging is gaining more widespread acceptance, and has many advantages.¹ There are many reasons why practices avoid implementing digital radiography into the dental office, including: high cost; analog-based practice (no computers in the office); trepidation regarding the conversion process and necessary staff training; and, for some, the disbelief that digital radiography is an improvement over conventional radiography.² Digital radiography is available in a variety of systems—plates or sensors, wireless or hard-wired—and much debate exists over which is most effective. Table 1 lists the advantages and disadvantages of digital imaging.

* References can be found in the original article via the link below.
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