Although digital intraoral sensors have many advantages over film, I find that many of my colleagues and their staff sometimes find placement more difficult—especially when they first make the switch to digital radiography. Since I am focusing my attention on sensors this month, I wanted to dedicate a brief post to the techniques used for intraoral sensor positioning. Correctly positioning the sensor the first time has many benefits, including:

• Improved patient comfort
• More efficient  image acquisition
• Improved accuracy and improved  image composition
• Reduced radiation exposure for patients

As dental professionals, you already know how important resolution is when you select digital imaging products for your practice —whether it’s direct digital, phosphor plates, panoramic systems or even a new camera for your practice. However, sometimes the “advertised” resolution is not the same as the “tested “resolution, and the wording companies use to describe resolution can be confusing. For this post, I would like to take the opportunity to discuss a question that many others have asked when choosing a sensor: what’s the importance of spatial resolution and what is the difference between true and theoretical spatial resolution?

One of the benefits of writing a blog is the ability to dive deeper into topics that we’ve explored in the past. This week, I would like to look back at a post I wrote on best practices for infection control and focus exclusively on intraoral sensors.

Infection control is one of the most important things to consider when you are making the switch to digital radiography (DR), since you must understand how to “sanitize” your imaging technology to ensure infection control standards are met. The health and safety of our patients is of paramount importance—not only for maintaining a trusting relationship with them, but also for shielding them from cross-contamination and potential sources of infection.  For these reasons, following the best practices for sensor sterilization is critical.

Finding right sensor for your practice requires research. After all, a good intraoral sensor can provide many benefits for you, your staff, and your patients. To facilitate this process, I have created a chart that highlights the features you should look for, how they benefit your practice, and the questions you should ask during the buying process.

My practice services a spectrum of patients and my pediatric, geriatric, and disabled dental patients are the most sensitive/limited/have greater urgent needs (hence requiring faster/more convenient digital imaging equipment to quickly diagnose the problem and refer to specialist if needed). What has been your experience?

Dental school graduates who choose private practice have two main paths to choose from when starting their professional careers—start fresh or take on an associateship with an established practice. If you decide to venture out on your own, there are certainly some imaging technology considerations to take into account. While I have discussed the benefits of switching from film to digital in the past, the obvious choice for a new dentist is to build a fully digital practice. With all of the new technology available, it would be a mistake to start a new practice that needs darkroom or film processor space.