Radiology in dentistry has come a long way since C. Edmund Kells exposed the first dental radiograph in the United States to a living person. Radiographic images help health care professionals in dentistry diagnose and evaluate problems below the gum line, in the jaw and between and inside of your teeth. Science and technology are continually advancing and new technologies are being studied and introduced frequently. Digital imaging is one of these advances and offers a reliable and versatile technique which has helped to improve the diagnostic possibilities of radiography in dentistry. So, what is a digital radiograph and what are its benefits?
A very important aspect of producing a radiographic image is to produce a diagnostic image that …show more content…
The sensor system measures the photon intensity of the X-ray beam after it has passed through the object. These measurements are done in a two-dimensional array of small regions of 20 to 30 square micrometers, called pixels. The photon intensity is measured electronically on a scale of 256 gray values (0–255). Zero on this scale means that the maximum radiation is measured, which corresponds to black in the radiographic image, and 255 represents no radiation at all, or complete radiopacity. The measurements of the photon intensities for each pixel are sent to the computer and stored as an array of numbers representing the x and y coordinates and the photon intensity of each pixel. The numerical information contained in this array subsequently is used to display the gray values on the monitor screen (Van Der Stelt, 2005).
Most patients are concerned about how much radiation they are absorbing when dental radiographs are being taken. Digital radiographs are said to have less radiation than film, but is that true? According to this article, it is questionable whether digital radiography really provides this benefit with regard to intraoral as well as extraoral imaging. It should be clear that dose reduction for digital radiography is quite restricted; it is possible only when the practitioner takes care to select the lowest exposure that still provides diagnostically useful images (Van Der Stelt,
A very important aspect of producing a radiographic image is to produce a diagnostic image that …show more content…
The sensor system measures the photon intensity of the X-ray beam after it has passed through the object. These measurements are done in a two-dimensional array of small regions of 20 to 30 square micrometers, called pixels. The photon intensity is measured electronically on a scale of 256 gray values (0–255). Zero on this scale means that the maximum radiation is measured, which corresponds to black in the radiographic image, and 255 represents no radiation at all, or complete radiopacity. The measurements of the photon intensities for each pixel are sent to the computer and stored as an array of numbers representing the x and y coordinates and the photon intensity of each pixel. The numerical information contained in this array subsequently is used to display the gray values on the monitor screen (Van Der Stelt, 2005).
Most patients are concerned about how much radiation they are absorbing when dental radiographs are being taken. Digital radiographs are said to have less radiation than film, but is that true? According to this article, it is questionable whether digital radiography really provides this benefit with regard to intraoral as well as extraoral imaging. It should be clear that dose reduction for digital radiography is quite restricted; it is possible only when the practitioner takes care to select the lowest exposure that still provides diagnostically useful images (Van Der Stelt,