Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Miriam Lodewyks — Mon, 21 May 2018 13:17:51 GMT

Perhaps a little specific, but has anybody had bad or good experiences wrt dental images being attached to Robovet?

Any software programs or tech-support nightmares I should know about?

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Sarah Keir — Fri, 18 May 2018 07:38:06 GMT

Thank you for the ideas guys.

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Thu, 17 May 2018 23:15:42 GMT

Niemic et al is the latest . I haven't examined it yet but given his collaborators I expect it's pretty good. Niemic himself is a slightly controversial figure in the upper circles of veterinary dentistry.

"Atlas of Veterinary Dental Radiography" by DuPont and DeBowes is good . Published 2009 .

If you are doing rabbits and rodents then "Dentistry in Rabbits and Rodents" by Estella Böhmer is essential, indispensable, for its radiography sections.

Don't let anybody palm you off with an old copy of DeForge and Colmery. A terrible book.

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Beats — Thu, 17 May 2018 20:23:59 GMT

[quote user="Sarah Keir"]Any particular book?[/quote]

I have found this quite read-able, but haven't read any others to compare.

https://dogbeachvet.com/for-veterinary-professionals/products-bookstore/books/practical-veterinary-dental-radiography

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Noirin Ni Shimidh — Thu, 17 May 2018 19:37:34 GMT

I did the online dental radiography course that Brett Beckman provides (he has some great extraction online courses as well). Advantage is you can do it immediately and review it and the images as often as you like. I found it really good. I can't remember the website but probably just google his name...

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Sarah Keir — Thu, 17 May 2018 19:07:58 GMT

Any particular book?

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Thu, 17 May 2018 15:51:48 GMT

[quote user="Stephanie Fursland"]Has anyone heard of the handheld machines becoming illegal from a radiation protection point of view in the next few years?[/quote]

Unlikely. Nomad had to jump through all sorts of hoops to get approval by the authorities in the UK. Why would they withdraw the approval?

They may be planning to get much more severe on the cheap Chinese ones.

Courses – it's a personal thing but I can't see the point of going to a lecture course to learn this stuff. A textbook can tell you everything, it's far cheaper, and you can gaze at the pictures as long as you like instead being subject to the whim of the lecturer as he gallops through his slides.

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Rob Davis — Thu, 17 May 2018 12:53:26 GMT

[quote user="Stephanie Fursland"]Has anyone heard of the handheld machines becoming illegal from a radiation protection point of view in the next few years? [/quote]

I have heard this rumour, though nothing definitive. Some require lead gowns to be worn, some don't.

[quote user="Stephanie Fursland"](apparently they are not allowed in other EU countries)[/quote]

I don't know about this for certain, but I do know that at least 2 different models were on display at the EVDS forum in Malaga last year where the majority of delegates were from EU countries other than the UK.

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Bob Russell — Thu, 17 May 2018 11:18:58 GMT

We have DR and perfectly happy with it. We now have a dedicated PC on the wall very close to unit. Images are there before you get back to the patient.

Ours is size 1 and fits well but clearly big teeth take a further few seconds for a second view.

Wall unit is run by clockwork and steam and has been working well for over a decade here and probably two decades in a human practice before that! I doubt a newer unit will work much better.

Some hand-held units came over from China and made everyone in the room glow from the scattered radiation. Get a legitimate new unit or a well checked out used one.

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Stephanie Wellings — Thu, 17 May 2018 09:59:50 GMT

There's a good image gallery for radiographic appearance of common pathology on the clinician's brief website.

Has anyone heard of the handheld machines becoming illegal from a radiation protection point of view in the next few years? This was mentioned (apparently they are not allowed in other EU countries) when we were looking into it recently, although we didn't get a firm answer either way!

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Rob Loxley — Thu, 17 May 2018 08:30:37 GMT

[quote user="Sarah Keir"]On a similar theme, can anyone recommend any dental radiography CPD, free or paid?[/quote]

I went on a Henry Schein/ Midmark course run by Matthew Oxford that was very good and great value. There are details of similar on the BVDA website https://www.bvda.co.uk/continuing-professional-development

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 16 May 2018 22:51:29 GMT

Software: if you're happy with what comes in the package, look no further. I'm sure that any system currently available will give you excellent images. The trouble comes with the manipulation, archiving etc. bits of the application. I've seen some where it was not so much clunky as absolutely baffling; just a mess, nobody could work out how to use it properly and the training provided was zilch. So get a demonstration, a proper one where you try it out yourself, before committing to purchase.

Package software always seems to be Windows: a disadvantage to me when I had to sully my Macs with Windows (which I had to buy ); later I found some third-party software from Haas Software in the US which was not only Mac native, it was better than the Windows one.

Trolleys clutter the place up. Get ceiling or wall mounting (unless you go for handheld.) The choice will probably be dictated by your own walls and ceilings. Ceiling gives you a bit more sphere of operation, on the whole. Whatever you do, choose the mounting point very very carefully; use a tape measure; it will be very frustrating if you can't position quite correctly over a large dog because the arm doesn't reach.

Handheld has pros and cons. Pro: you can carry it about, use it anywhere, no problems with reach. Cons: if you find your angle wasn't quite right, with a mounted generator you can just adjust a little; it's harder to visualise angles if you're not very experienced, with the handheld; you need somewhere to put the handheld down when not in use, and veterinary operatories are always short of horizontal surfaces. (I hand my Nomad straight to the nurse and she holds it if i need it again in a moment, or puts it on the wall rack [which I suspect is really a bicycle rack] if I don't.)

CR does give better images, but DR gives very good images and you get them almost instantly. Doing endodontics, you don't want to wait even 30 seconds for your image.

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Kate Richardson — Wed, 16 May 2018 21:54:34 GMT

Haven’t used DR but have CR, wall mounted, IM3 machine. Love it with an inexplicable passion

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Sarah Keir — Wed, 16 May 2018 21:04:30 GMT

On a similar theme, can anyone recommend any dental radiography CPD, free or paid? I have just started work at a practice where I am using dental xrays for the first time - getting the images but not sure how to interpret and clinical uses of oral xrays in dogs - obviously all cats need full xrays as part of dental assessment ;-)

Sarah

RE: Dental radiography preferences/ recommendations:

Rob Davis — Wed, 16 May 2018 18:42:10 GMT

CR - much larger selection of sizes, DR limited to size 0 and 2. DR sensors much bulkier and can be difficult to fit in small mouths. Can't fit a whole dog canine tooth on one size 2 DR so require multiple images etc.

Evelyn, I believe, has both (he's very fancy!) so will be in a good position to compare.

If using CR then would highly recommend the CR7 from Durr/IM3 - having tried several this seems to me to be the best currently available.

In terms of generators i have no experience with handheld, but I think they would be more difficult to get the angles correct especially if you're not experienced at it.

As I am typing a brand new IM3 Revolution 4DC generator is being installed next door - I am very excited to try it tomorrow! Up until now I have been using a bog-standard Chinese machine from Veterinary X-rays which is mounted on wheels. It has done me well, but is on its last legs after several years of fairly heavy usage (tube head cracked and leaking oil). I am very much looking forward to having a wall-mounted machine which should free up floor space which always seems to become crowded with stuff when I'm doing dentistry!

The software I use came as a package with the CR7 reader, and I find it generally good. It is linked to a PACS so we can view the images from multiple terminals (and other surgeries).