Digital X-Rays
New York, NY
 The use of X-rays has been around over 120 years, since their discovery in 1985 by a German professor by the name of Wilhelm Roentgen. Before their introduction, there was much guesswork in dental care, but since they have been in use, we have been able to provide our patients with superior diagnostic and treatment options that may not have otherwise been available to them. While conventional dental X-rays served their purpose, we here at Manhattan Maxillofacial Surgery Group have since switched to digital radiography, allowing us to diagnose and treat a wide array of dental concerns without all of the problems that we had with traditional X-rays.
Why We Use Digital X-Rays at Our Office
Getting an X-ray is quite safe, despite its bad reputation. A traditional X-ray provides less than an entire year’s worth of natural radiation, making the amount of exposure that our patients get from it quite nominal. Digital X-rays are even safer for our patients, giving us even better images with only one tenth of the radiation of conventional X-rays. However, the safety of digital X-rays is not the only draw of using them. They outperform conventional X-rays in many ways!
In the past, if we wanted to take an X-ray of a patient’s mouth, we would first take the X-ray, then send it out for developing. We would have to wait before we could even begin to review it. The X-ray had to be developed in a lab, which could slow down treatment and meant that we would have to delay treatment before we could review the results. If the X-ray were damaged, we would have to start all over again, calling the patient back for another appointment.
Now, digital X-rays allow us to get instantaneous images, which means that delays in treatment are no longer a problem. We can immediately view those images and share them with our patients. Moreover, in the unlikely event that we did not get a good enough image, we would know in just a moment and could retake the X-ray during the same appointment.
Another advantage of digital X-rays is that they also have better clarity and improved resolution over traditional X-rays. Because they are digital, we can call them up on our computer with just a few clicks. If we want to zoom in on a trouble spot, we can enlarge it and focus on it. We can also change the brightness and the contrast of the image, giving us a much more thorough view of the image. The days of squinting at grainy, poorly developed X-rays are behind us now.
Other Benefits of Digital X-rays
Digital X-rays also reduce the risk of losing a patient’s images. Before, our office was cluttered with files, and lost charts were a bane of our practice. Now we can keep all of your radiograph images saved on our computer, making recalling them a cinch. We can also collaborate with other healthcare providers faster, giving us the ability to share your X-rays quicker when you request that we do so for you.
If you have been told that you need X-rays and you would like to schedule an appointment with us to have them taken, or it has been longer than two years since you last had X-rays taken, and you want to set your appointment up for it, please give us here at Manhattan Maxillofacial Surgery Group a call today at (212) 245-5801!
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