Image manipulation

In dentistry we attend courses and use the best equipment to achieve the best results for our patients. I am a specialist in periodontics in Birmingham and an associate specialist in periodontics at the University of Birmingham Dental school. I work in a few clinics and they all have different radiographic equipment. At the dental school we use plain film radiography and most of the practices I work in I use phosphor plates except one where I use the charged couple device (CCD) to take long cone periapical radiographs.

My patients, and I myself, have often struggled with the CCD due to its rigid nature. Most of my patients prefer the phosphor plates as they are similar to the traditional plain film radiographs and are not as uncomfortable in the mouth especially the lower jaw.

The two main advantages of digital radiography are firstly the speed at which the images can be processed, and secondly the software supplied with the systems which allows you to manipulate the images to clarify them both for the clinician and the patients.