New adventures in dentistry

[randy_byers]

Got my teeth cleaned yesterday, and discovered they have changed how they take X-rays. Now they take a digital X-ray, using a sensor in place of film and shooting X-rays through the teeth into the sensor. It made me wonder if they are working on software that can compare two sets of X-rays from two different times to track changes in the teeth. Although I suppose the slight changes in angle between shots would make that tricky. I also wonder if they are digitizing other types of X-ray shots as well. Has anybody had an X-ray recently? One advantage of the new procedure, according to the dental hygienist, is that they use a lower dose of X-rays.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

By the end of 2008, the surgeon who did my hip replacement was using digital x-rays. Instead of waiting for film to be developed and then hooking the film onto the back-lit reading board, he simply holds up his tablet and shows me the x-ray image. My dentist got the equipment you describe around that same time or a little later.

-- Denys

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded that somebody I know in the US had their X-ray analyzed overnight by someone in Australia in the past year or two, which would imply that it was digital. I can't remember what the situation was.

[janetl.livejournal.com]

My dental x-rays and mammograms have been digital for several years. In some cases, images and other test results like EKGs are being analyzed by physicians at a considerable distance, either to get specialized expertise or a lower price.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall that whoever I knew who had their X-rays analyzed in Australia thought it was because of timing: it was after hours here, but people were at work in Australia.

[k6rfm.livejournal.com]

Yes, other x-rays are being done digitally. CAT scans, MRI, etc. were always digitally generated and the films were just high-res printouts. Besides the reduction in radiation, the wonderful advantage of the digital images is the hospitals and clinics can't lose them. When Lin broke he wrist years ago, she had four copies of the original X-rays. Every time she saw a new doctor, they wanted a copy of the X-ray. Every time we handed their staff a copy, said copy disappeared a few hours later, never to be seen again.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

So how are the digital copies transferred to the new doctor's office?

[k6rfm.livejournal.com]

Don't know, the only transfers I've had recently are within Kaiser which has a unified IT system. Given the inherent chaos of the US fee-for-service system it probably has to be negotiated between the two staffs. (There are standards for image format, transfer protocol, etc. that the medical imaging industry uses.) But even if they have to use a film recorder to create a hard copy to hand-carry over, at least the original copy is safe!

[http://users.livejournal.com/doctor_k_/]

Digital radiography has been around for several years in Australia.
There's a central store of images taken at public hospitals, which means I can see films taken at another location, removing the need to get another set of pictures when the original hard copy gets lost in transit.

Hard films can get transferred to digital, and the patient can get a CD with their films on it to take with them if needed.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Sounds as though you're way ahead of us on that front. Making medical information available via a central database still seems to be controversial here, although I think we're headed in that direction. It astounds me that doctors still have to rely on their patients to tell them what drugs they're taking.