In 2001 Romsey Dental Care became one of the first dental practices in the UK to install a digital oral scanner, which creates a computerised image of the patient’s entire mouth and jawbone. Now even our small in-mouth X-rays are digital giving an instant result for immediate diagnosis. Since all our records are now stored digitally we can access information rapidly, including clinical charts and records, intra-oral images, patient photos and X-rays.

In-mouth Digital X-ray Sensors

The new high tech in-mouth sensors provide an excellent image using about a quarter of the X-ray dose required by films. Since the image appears within seconds there is no need to wait for results. The images can be enhanced to analyse important areas, and precise digital measurements can be taken for treatments like root canal therapy.

Digital Oral Scanner

This state-of-the-art technology creates an image of a patient's jawbone, teeth, sinuses and jaw joints. This image appears instantly on the computer screen and can be assessed immediately with the benefit of computer enhancement and magnification to help in detecting abnormalities.

The benefits to all patients are enormous – a routine scan every 3 years can pick up otherwise invisible and symptomless problems enabling the dentist to provide the right advice or treatment before any discomfort occurs. The type of problems we are able to detect include:

• Bone loss caused by slowly developing gum disease
• Wisdom teeth – their precise position and relationship to the nerves
• Adult teeth that are out of position or missing
• Abscesses or cysts around teeth
• Other benign growths in the jaw which can cause problems like jaw fracture if not detected (dentist Samantha Price had one such growth picked up on a scan)
• Oral cancer – tumours in the jaws can be effectively treated if picked up early
• Some jaw joint or sinus problems

The scan is completely painless and because it is digital rather than film, it uses much lower levels of x-rays than a conventional OPG machine. It will be taken by either one of the dentists or Gill Hurst who is the Senior Dental Nurse in the practice and has a special radiography qualification. The cost is a modest £35 – a small price to pay for peace of mind, especially when you consider that this is less than many practices charge for a film X-ray!

Intra-Oral Cameras

Both surgeries are equipped with intra-oral cameras which can produce highly magnified TV images from within your mouth. This is invaluable for demonstrating problems and cosmetic improvements and providing preventive advice.

As a fully digital practice we can also capture these images into patient records for future reference.