DrBicuspid.com Dental Imaging Insider

Dear Imaging Insider,

No one denies that technology can enhance numerous aspects of our personal and professional lives. Take caries detection, for example. While visual examination remains the gold standard, tools such as the Diagnodent have become accepted support mechanisms for many in the dental community.

But does the additional information about a potential lesion that can be obtained using laser fluorescence, bitewing radiographs, or other diagnostic tools actually prompt more aggressive treatment decisions? That is the conclusion of a study that appears in the latest European Journal of Oral Sciences. Read more in our latest Imaging Insider Exclusive.

In other Imaging Community news, the debate continues over how many times a phosphor plate can be used before the image quality degrades too much. Some digital x-ray manufacturers contend they're good for 1,000 uses, but one study found they wear out after 50 uses. Now new research suggests they can be used at least 200 times. Does anyone know for sure?

Not surprisingly, the Chicago Dental Society's Midwinter Meeting provided a launching pad for a number of new imaging products. Texas start-up Trimira introduced the multispectral Identafi 3000 cancer screening device; AFP Imaging launched its next-generation cone-beam CT system, the NewTom VGi; three separate companies debuted intraoral cameras at the meeting, bringing the total number of these devices now on the market to more than 40; and a Michigan dentist who is also an inventor touted Beyond Seeing, an analog video camera plus microphone that can attach to any operating light and eliminate the need for note taking with a pen or keyboard.

Over on the Ask Marty technology Q&A page, our resident tech expert Martin Jablow, D.M.D., has lots of useful information regarding digital caries detectors, digital x-ray systems, intra- and extraoral cameras, and CAD/CAM devices. Submit your technology question for Dr. Jablow at [email protected]; if we use it, you'll receive an Amazon gift card!