Topic – Digital X-Rays
Below you will find an easy to read transcript of Dr. John Vitale’s interview on the razorcast™ monthly podcast. You can click to listen to the podcast or simply read the easy to follow transcript below. Enjoy!
Podcast Interview:
RC: Hello everyone, this is Liz Harvey coming to you from our razorcast™ studios in New York City where we are dedicated to bringing you top quality advice from many of the leading expert professionals across the United States.
In today’s episode we are speaking with Dr. John Vitale. Dr. Vitale is the founder of Dr. John R. Vitale, DMD at Port Liberte, a general dentistry and cosmetic dentistry practice in Jersey City, New Jersey. He has an extensive dental background that began at Iona College and then at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Dr. Vitale has been practicing in the area for over 35 years and is currently a member of the International Congress of Implantology. He is also certified in BOTOX® and dermal fillers and he continues his education in the dental field with monthly classes. Dr. Vitale has also had the pleasure of traveling to Honduras and Panama to provide charity dental care to needy patients.
Dr. Vitale is widely considered to be one of the top dentists in the country and he is also a contributing member of our national network of industry professionals.
Today we are going to talk about a very important topic: Digital X-Rays
RC: Hi Dr. Vitale, how are you today?
Dr. John Vitale: I’m fine thank you and yourself?
RC: I’m great. Thanks for being here.
Dr. John Vitale: My pleasure.
Question 1: What kind of equipment is used in a Digital X-Ray? Do patients still have to bite down on the uncomfortable paper and wear the heavy lead bib?
RC: Thanks. So what kind of equipment is used in a Digital X-Ray? Do patients still have to bite down on the uncomfortable paper and wear the heavy lead bib?
Dr. John Vitale: The type of equipment that is used in digital x-ray today is just modern dental x-ray units. The exposure with the radiation is much much less because from the pressing of the button to the completion of the x-ray, that’s all done in milliseconds now instead of a second or second and a half. So the amount of exposure to radiation is tremendously less.
For safety purposes, yes we still put (not a heavy lead bib) a lead bib on a patient because any x-ray whether it be digital or conventional analog still has radiation that is emitted.
And do they have to bite down on uncomfortable paper? No. The delivery system is a little bit different today. We use a rectangular disc with a cone apparatus to line the x-ray unit up and it’s pretty comfortable.
Question 2: Are the same radiation risks at play with digital x-rays versus traditional?
RC: Oh good. So are the same radiation risks at play with digital x-rays versus traditional?
Dr. John Vitale: Absolutely not. The radiation risk with the digital x-ray is probably 1/100th the exposure than that of a traditional x-ray. The x-ray is taken literally in milliseconds and so the amount of radiation admitted is tremendously less.
Question 3: Is the quality of the x-ray image better with digital x-rays?
RC: Great and is the quality of the x-ray image better with digital x-rays?
Dr. John Vitale: It is tremendously better also because the pictures are much more crisp. They are computer driven and so you get great contrast with your pictures. And we now also have these units in addition to the digital x-ray units, called a Caries Finder and we find caries in people’s mouth or cavities in people’s mouth electronically and it’s phenomenal actually. It finds decay that you could theoretically not pick up on an x-ray.
Question 4: What type of dental issues are you looking for in the x-ray image?
RC: Alright and what type of dental issues besides decay are you looking for in the x-ray image?
Dr. John Vitale: We’re looking for periodontal disease. We’re looking for endodontic problems or root canal problems. We’re looking for fractures. We’re looking for even pathology.
Question 5: How has investing in your digital x-ray equipment improved your practice?
RC: Okay and how has investing in your digital x-ray equipment improved your practice?
Dr. John Vitale: Well I think the digital x-ray advances has allowed us to deliver a better product to our patients. We’re able to investigate and seek out and find decay, pathology and things that sometimes are missed with analog x-rays.
RC: Alright well thank you so much Dr. Vitale we know you’re extremely busy so I just want to thank you for your time and help today.
Dr. John Vitale: My pleasure.
RC: For our listeners across the country, if you are interested in speaking with Dr. John Vitale, you can either go online at www.drjohnrvitale.com or call 201-521-9800 to schedule an appointment.
On behalf of our entire team at razorcast™, we want to thank you for listening and we look forward to bringing you more top quality content from our country’s leading industry professionals.
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