Quality Comparison of Analog and Digital X-Ray Equipment and Materials in a Dental Clinic

Abstract

Many dental clinics are swapping analog x-ray equipment for digital systems to obtain medical images in the search for improvements such as reduced costs and better care of the images and fast response. However it is necessary to analyze if the digital images have quality requirements in order to provide the diagnosis in a similar or superior way to the analog films. The objective of this paper is to analyze the quality of the digitized x-ray diagnostic images in relation to the structures represented. The research was conducted in a dental clinic that was changing the analog x-ray equipment for one digital. The results by means of statistical analysis demonstrated that the digital system has better spatial resolution and better contrast. As a suggestion of future research an analysis by dentists to see if on the day of the clinic, these theoretical advantages are confirmed in better diagnostics.