The Purpose Of Dental Radiology

Answer 1

Dental radiology is a specialized medical field that focuses on creating and analyzing diagnostic images relating to the mouth and nearby areas. Because this subfield of radiology is considered a specialty, radiologists and dentists can obtain dental radiology board certification. Although general radiologists and dentists are able to take quality mouth images, dental radiologists may be sought for challenging cases. Dental radiology specialists can identify and analyze faint markings on an image that signify an issue with the patient's dental health.

The Role of the Dental Radiologist

These dental professionals are able to identify problems, evaluate abnormalities and make treatment recommendations to a patient's medical team. In addition, dental radiologists can be involved with a patient's follow-up care in order to confirm a procedure's success. Identifying emerging problems, performing imaging studies and monitoring at-risk patient populations are also other main roles of the dental radiologist.

Dental Radiology Imaging Techniques

Several imaging techniques are used in the dental radiology field in order to study the jaw, teeth and oral cavity. These techniques include computed tomography, or CT, scanning, magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, and x-ray imaging. A dental radiologist's training will teach them how each of these imaging techniques work and the proper uses for these techniques. All radiologists are well-versed in radiation physics, radiation exposure risks and radiation exposure prevention.

The Differences Between Radiology and Radiation Therapy

Many patients are unaware of the differences between radiology and radiation therapy. While both terms revolve around radiation use, radiation therapy calls for therapeutic radiation doses in order to treat certain types of medical conditions. For those with oral or throat cancer, radiation therapy is applied to the patient's neck and head; this treatment is always managed by an oncologist and a supporting medical team. On the other hand, a dental radiologist only specializes in radiation as it is used for imaging. However, interventional radiology is a medical field related to dental and oral radiology. An interventional radiologist uses imaging in order to guide certain medical procedures like catheter placements. Some dental radiologist have a dual certification that includes interventional radiology. This type of certification allows them to perform procedures such as angiograms that use medical imaging and tracer dyes to study a patient's vascular system.