Traditionally, x-rays have been created by a photographic process utilizing film which gets developed in a chemical solution.

Taking this type of intraoral (inside-the-mouth) x-ray involves inserting a bulky, uncomfortable film holders behind your teeth and then taking pictures. The transparent images are transferred to the film, which is developed in a chemical solution. Your processed film x-rays usually get stored in your patient file.

This is probably the type of x-ray you are most familiar with when coming to a dental office.

What we do differently

At ArtWork Dental, we have embraced a more comfortable, less invasive, and safer practice when taking x-rays that requires neither film nor harsh chemicals. This means that the harsh chemicals, plastic film, and paper products associated with packaging and cleanup are not used, nor are they dumped into the environment.

We accomplish this by using digital x-ray equipment. All we do is place a much smaller, more comfortable sensor inside your mouth behind your teeth. Then we take the x-rays you need, the sensor capturing the information digitally. This means we can take all of the shots you need by moving just one small sensor around in your mouth instead of a new one for each shot.

Instead of taking 25 minutes for a full mouth series of x-rays, we can have it all done in about 5 minutes with little or no discomfort. That’s a huge improvement. In addition, digital x-rays expose you to 80% LESS radiation than traditional x-rays.

More important, the pictures are more accurate, and we can enlarge the image of each tooth to examine it thoroughly. This drastically reduces the chance of possible errors and eliminates having dental work you don’t really need.

Green Dentistry

Another important aspect of digital x-rays, we feel, is that we can store all of your images along with your client files on a computer hard drive instead of in a bulky paper file. It’s part of our “green dental office” initiative to eliminate paper and chemical waste. In addition, it’s more secure and less wasteful: a win for everyone involved, plus a big win for the environment.