Diagnostic Digital X-Rays
West Linn, OR
 Digital x-rays are a fantastic diagnostic tool, providing us with a better understanding of your oral health. Invented in 1895, we have been using x-rays for nearly 125 years to help us treat our patients. Many people are understandably a little bit cautious about getting an x-ray done, and the fact that we place a lead vest over you and leave the room probably doesn’t help put your mind at ease. The fact is, x-rays are incredibly safe, and the small amount of exposure you get at our office is less than the amount you would get from a short, one-hour airplane flight. We here at ZenTech Dentistry take your safety one step further by offering digital x-rays to our patients, giving you a higher standard of care and treatment.
Benefits of Digital X-Rays
Digital x-rays (also known as digital radiography) are not only great for diagnosing problems with your mouth; they’re also an unparalleled resource in helping prevent further issues from arising. So often it seems that these problems, such as tooth decay or crowding or bone degeneration, can go undetected for a long time, causing further problems down the road.
We generally advise x-rays for all of our first-time patients. We like to follow up with a fresh set of x-rays on average every two years, giving us updated information on your oral health. Of course, if you come into our office with a complaint of oral pain, or we find something during a routine dental exam or cleaning that warrants further investigation, we may also advise another set of x-rays. Typically, the regions we like to capture are your bitewings (your upper and lower back teeth), but we can even take panoramic images of your mouth, too.
Unlike older x-ray technology, we prefer digital x-rays for a variety of reasons. For starters, even though conventional x-rays are entirely safe, digital x-rays have 75 percent less radiation than their older counterparts. Furthermore, we’re able to get immediate results instead of having to send negatives out for development.
We’re also able to enlarge the images of your teeth and bones with the push of a button, allowing us to look closer at any trouble spots. We also love digital x-rays because we can control and manipulate your images just as easily as we can enlarge them, adjusting brightness or contrast to zero in on any concerns.
Digital x-rays are also more environmentally friendly and take up less space in our office, giving us more freedom to focus on your health instead of tripping over charts. We are also less likely to lose your images because there’s no chance of misplacing your chart! Because they’re instant, we can start your treatment right away if we do notice any concerns, instead of having to wait for the images to come back from the lab. We may also use digital x-rays before cosmetic dental procedures like dental implants and bone grafting.
As you can see, the benefits of digital x-rays are numerous, which is why we recommend them to all of our patients. If you are interested in learning more about how digital x-rays can help up us improve your treatment, or you’re ready to schedule your next dental appointment, please give us a call here today at ZenTech Dentistry at (503) 765-9699.
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(503) 765-9699
