Use of direct digital radiography at remote dental facilities

Digital radiography is changing the practice of dentistry today. This techn ology offers many advantages compared with conventional radiographic techni ques. These advantages include faster imaging times, elimination of convent ional dental film/chemicals and processing equipment, reduced radiation exp osure, the ability to enhance images, and digitization of images for storag e and electronic transfer. The U.S, Air Force Dental Corps completed an eva luation of digital radiography to assess its potential use by deployed unit s in the field, The Schick Computed Dental Radiography Kit was selected for testing and sent to two remote sites in Saudi Arabia for analysis. After c ompletion of a 6-month evaluation, this system was rated favorably by the e valuators and was determined to be an excellent alternative for field-use r adiography. As a result of this study, digital radiography is now being int egrated in all expeditionary medical support units for future field deploym ents.