Dental Radiographic Equipment and Materials

Question 1

Can dental radiographs be taken with a stationary radiographic unit?

Answer 1

Yes. There is considerable effort in positioning the patient

Question 2

What are the advantages of the dental radiographic unit?

Answer 2

Its fairly flexible head and jointed extension arm

Can be angled which minimizes the need for patient repositioning

Question 3

What are the two types of current that can be input into dental x-ray machine heads?

Answer 3

Alternating current

Direct current

Question 4

What determines the power of the x-ray in most dental machines?

Answer 4

The amount of voltage applies to the tube

Question 5

An alternating current produces sine waves and what?

Answer 5

Impulses of x-rays

Question 6

What is the pulse rate of alternating current machines in the U.S? In other parts of the world?

Answer 6

60 pulses every second

50 pulses per second

Question 7

What are the units the amount to pulse rate is measured in?

Answer 7

Kilovoltage peak (kVp)

Question 8

Direct current units are more like what?

Answer 8

Very high-frequency AC units

Question 9

Direct current units produce a wave in what?

Answer 9

70,000 cycles per second

Question 10

Is the high pulse of the direct current unit perceived?

Answer 10

No

Question 11

How is the high pulse of the direct current unit expressed?

Answer 11

Kilovolt

Question 12

Is the power more consistent with an alternating current or direct current?

Answer 12

Direct current

Question 13

If the power in the DC unit is more consistent does it use less or more kV than the alternating current unit’s kVp?

Answer 13

Less kVp

Question 14

In what unit is the milliamperage often fixed?

Answer 14

Alternating current
At 7 mA
Can be 6 or 8 mA

Question 15

In what unit is the milliamperage usually variable?

Answer 15

Direct current

Range from 4 to 8 mA

Question 16

What are the two important criteria in choosing an x-ray unit?

Answer 16

The stability of the arm
The focal spot size inside the x-ray head
The smaller the spot = the sharper the image

Question 17

The kVp and the mA are fixed in most radiographic units. What is the variable that may require adjustment according to the thickness of the area to be studied?

Answer 17

Time

Question 18

How is time measured?

Answer 18

Portions of a second
Impulses
One impulse equals 1/60th of a second
30 impulses would equal 0.5 seconds

Question 19

What is inexpensive, small, flexible, fits neatly into the oral cavity, and conforms to the area in which it is placed?

Answer 19

Intraoral film

Question 20

How does the intraoral film compare to the screen film used in most veterinary situations?

Answer 20

Nonscreen film (provides better detail)
Processed in 1 to 2 minutes in rapid developer & fixer solutions with minimal loss of detail
Allows small areas of interest to be isolated

Question 21

What are the layers of the intraoral film?

Answer 21

An external plastic coating
A layer of paper between the plastic coating & the radiographic film
Radiographic film
Another layer of paper
Layer of lead
Another layer of paper that can be peeled from the plastic coating

Question 22

What are the two basic components of digital veterinary dental radiology?

Answer 22

The dental x-ray machine

The digital x-ray system

Question 23

Do the x-ray machine and digital x-ray system need to be purchased together?

Answer 23

No. They can be purchased from independent manufacteruers

Question 24

What does the dental x-ray machine consist of?

Answer 24

A control unit
A tube head that produces radiation
A collimator that aims and confines the radiation
A timer that turns the unit on

Question 25

What digital x-ray system uses a sensor to capture images?

Answer 25

The direct or digital radiology

Question 26

What digital system has a phosphorous plate and processing unit?

Answer 26

The indirect or computerized radiology (CR)

Question 27

What is one of the most important components of the whole system?

Answer 27

The computer that is being used to read the image