Our Lakewood dentists, Dr. Shaun Sigurdson and Dr. Mihir Patel, are constantly looking for ways to improve their practice. That’s why they frequently update Lakewood Dental Group with new and improved technology, like digital X-rays.
X-rays tell our team about the condition of your teeth below the gumline. This allows Dr. Sigurdson and Dr. Patel to make well-informed recommendations about your dental health. While it’s true that dentists have been using film-based X-rays for decades, digital X-rays have completely revolutionized the quality, standard, and safety of dental radiographs forever.
How do digital X-rays differ from film-based X-rays?
In the past, dentists used film-based X-rays to capture images of teeth below the gumline. These X-rays used high-energy waves of electromagnetic radiation focused on the face and jaw. Once the X-rays hit solid material, like bones and teeth, the radiation then bounced back onto a phosphor-coated film.
Dental radiographers could then take this film into a darkroom to develop the images. Needless to say, this took a tremendous amount of time and effort, and the images were usually less than perfect.
Digital X-rays, however, use radiation-sensitive plates to collect information about underlying tooth and bone structures. Rather than transmitting the information onto film, it is instantly transferred to a computer. The results are faster, easier to collect, and much clearer than film-based X-rays.
What are the benefits of digital X-rays?
There are many benefits of using digital X-rays, including:
- More comfortable: Film-based X-rays often took several minutes to collect and required patients to hold uncomfortable positions for long periods of time. With digital X-rays, patients can sit comfortably while our team quickly takes high-quality images of their teeth and jawbones.
- Faster results: In the past, radiographers needed at least 10 minutes per patient to develop their film-based X-ray images. Today, however, our Lakewood dentists can see images of patients’ teeth and jaws instantly with digital X-rays.
- Less radiation exposure: One of the major drawbacks of film-based X-rays is the amount of radiation that patients are exposed to. Digital X-rays use 90% less radiation, making them much safer for vulnerable populations, like children and pregnant women.
- High-quality images: Digital X-rays produce far clearer images than conventional X-rays do. In fact, not only are digital X-rays much clearer, but our team can make them sharper by adding contrast, zoom in to see tiny details, and even turn them into 3D images!
- Easy to transfer: In some cases, patients need to transfer their X-rays to their insurance companies or a new provider if they move. Digital X-rays make it much easier for patients to access their images and send them to third parties.
- Early detection: Perhaps the greatest benefit of using digital X-rays is detecting and diagnosing dental issues earlier and more accurately. This allows our team to intervene faster, which could make the difference between tooth-saving treatment and life-saving treatment.
Schedule Your Digital X-rays Today
If you’re looking for a trusted Lakewood dentist to take digital X-rays of your teeth and jawbones, then look no further than Lakewood Dental Group. New and existing patients can request digital X-rays by calling our Dallas dental office at (214) 827-1885 or scheduling an appointment online.
