Question

Your dental office has recently transitioned to digital radiography. Mr. Huang, who has not been in the office for almost 3 years, begins to ask you questions about the safety of digital imaging and wants to know why you are using sensors instead of film. How would you respond?

Answer 1

Answer: Sensors are more accurate.

Explanation:

We will begin our analysis of 'Accuracy' by first setting out the factors that

must be taken into account.

Fundamentally, 'Accuracy' simply describes how closely the indicated value

represents the actual measurand being monitored, whilst taking into account

all possible sources of error that are relevant to the application.

It is our experience that accuracy is very often confused with linearity, which

is of course only one source of potential error, albeit quite a significant one.

In fact in the practical world the quoted accuracy of a measurement should

include at least some and possibly all of the following sources of error:

Linearity

Repeatability

Resolution

Hysteresis

Zero temperature coefficient

Gain temperature coefficient

Long term stability

Calibration equipment errors and the calibration standard

Clearly then, accuracy can be closely defined for a given set of operating

conditions but it is vitally important to take into account all contributing

factors if the very best results are required.

Furthermore, it must be remembered that not all manufacturers will define

these parameters in exactly the same way, so choosing the best device for

your job can become quite a challenge.