Could This Signal The End For Dental X-rays?
Main Category: DentistryAlso Included In: MRI / PET / Ultrasound
Article Date: 10 Oct 2007 - 4:00 PDT
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Dental x-rays could be a thing of the past thanks to a new knowledge transfer partnership between the University of Abertay Dundee and pioneering research firm IDMoS.
A team of scientists from the university's SIMBIOS (Scottish Informatics and Mathematics Biology and Statistics) Centre will use sophisticated CAT (Computerised Axial Tomography) scanning equipment to verify that the company's newly developed equipment for detecting dental cavities works.
Chair of the Environmental Sciences School, Professor Iain Young said: "IDMoS have developed a non-invasive method of checking teeth for cavities.
"That means dentists will soon be able to check patients for tooth decay without resorting to x-rays which can be harmful and are often uncomfortable.
"Our role will be to verify that this new technology works by using CAT scans to check sample teeth for cavities and decay."
His colleague Dr Dmitri Grinev added: "Knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs) like this provide Government funding to help commercial businesses gain direct access to university knowledge and expertise.
"Abertay runs proportionately more KTPs with individual companies than any other university in Scotland and we've been involved in a lot of new discoveries and new techniques.
"This project is particularly exciting because it has such great potential to change the way we all think about visiting the dentist."
ABERTAY DUNDEE UNIVERSITY
Scotland
United Kingdom
DD1 1HG
http://www.abertay.ac.uk
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Way Too Good To Be True
posted by Anthony Rizzuti on 24 Oct 2007 at 3:47 amAs a dentist with some experience with both CT scanning and dental tomography technology, I can say with absolute certainty that while this is a novel idea, it'll be decades before it's feasible for use in the dental office. And despite the positive implications indicated, the fact is that the title is entirely misleading.
First, the technology uses a computer to generate 3-D images based on a series of x-rays (thus the misleading title). Yes, it's less invasive orally than traditional x-rays because there is no film inside the patient's mouth, but the patient is still exposed to radiation.
Second, as a pediatric dentist, I know that dental tomography is not reasonable for the treatment of children. In order to get an accurate picture, the patient must sit in a large (and often scary to children) machine for several seconds (or minutes, depending on the area to be scanned) while the machine moves around them. Many pediatric patients, particularly the younger children, simply do not have the patience to sit still for such a procedure.
Finally, the cost issue will make this technology unavailable in the private dental office for several decades. These machines cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, and very few hospitals and dental schools can afford them, let alone private practitioners. The cost-effectiveness of traditional film x-rays (or digital traditional x-rays) significantly supercedes that of dental tomography, and unfortunately tomography will not be close to affordable for many many years.
Certainly I believe this technology can be a great asset to dentistry. But it won't be anytime soon.
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