This letter relates to Dr. Paul van der Stelt’s October JADA article, "Filmless Imaging: The Uses of Digital Radiography in Dental Practice" (
JADA 2005; 136:1379–87
).
The patient came in late on Friday afternoon with a painful endodontically treated maxillary molar that had needed a crown awhile back. The purulent palatal root graciously popped right out. The buccal roots were "chip, chip, chip."
Prior to informing her I was quitting short of victory, my assistant took a film of the remaining root tips. The bloody film went from contaminated to cleaner to cleanest and then to her chart. Digital sensors cannot be sterilized and are reused from patient to patient. Always.
I cannot grasp why the American Dental Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the manufacturers want me to get the germs (never shown to be harmful, just icky) out of my waterlines, but use sensors over and over again in a known hostile environment. I wonder if the patient had hepatitis C? My professional liability carrier just discussed this issue in its fall 2005 newsletter, so I may be considered "on notice" by them.
