I feel that I should address the October article by Dr. Mel Kantor, "Dental Digital Radiography: More Than a Fad, Less Than a Revolution" (
JADA 2005;136:135860[Free Full Text]
). I agree with Dr. Kantor that film is still a high standard in radiology, but must emphasize the advantages of digital radiography in making enhanced diagnosis of pathology.
Never before on actual film could we obtain the enhanced images we are obtaining today with modern digital imaging. Medicine, as well as dentistry, is going toward the paperless record system, where digitalization of radiography is essential.
In our institution, the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, we have been utilizing digital imaging for three years in all phases of dentistry, with a high degree of success. Our students all have laptop computers. The images appear with patient records and are enhanced to obtain maximum-quality diagnoses.
It is not the same as going from rotary phones to touch tone, but the diagnostic quality has improved exponentially. I feel that it is a revolution in dental imaging, and we are very lucky to have it at our disposal.