Carestream CS 8100 Review - Dr Brendan Forde
Work smarter, not harder.
That’s what comes to mind when we think about the dental industry. Times are changing, we know it can be tough. It’s why it’s more important now than ever, to look critically at the status quo and find new and more efficient ways to work.
We caught up with Dr Brendan Forde, who made the call to shift from film x-rays to the digital with a Carestream CS 8100, the award-winning compact OPG, to see how his work and patients have benefitted:
What motivated you to buy the CS 8100?
Well having a machine that could physically fit our clinic was important as we are pushed for space and the CS 8100 is compact enough to fit. But it’s also compatible with the software that we have, other machines would have required us to update our existing software which makes the process more complicated. And I’ve had zero problems with the Carestream software. Local support is available but I haven’t needed any!
Another factor is that the radiation dose isn’t astronomical. I've found that a lot of new models can have high radiation doses, but actually the CS 8100’s dose is low.
How has the CS 8100 helped you in your practice?
The results have been instant! Because it’s convenient to use (it’s not at all onerous) and the images are of a high quality, we have been taking more radiographs, making it that much easier to make a diagnosis.
Since it’s extraoral it means that we can take images of those patients that struggle with their gag reflexes and intraoral x-rays.
Add in the low radiation doses and it’s all on the up and up really.
Have you seen any positive changes in patient outcome or satisfaction since using it?
Yes, absolutely. As the results are on the screen, it makes it much easier to explain what is going on. Being able to see migrating teeth or an impacted wisdom tooth is much easier than trying to show a patient with a mirror. Most patients are blown away by it, they look at it and say wow! And since they can physically see the problem, they are more onboard and confident with our recommendations, and we’ve seen patients electing to take more comprehensive treatment plans.
I know that some OPG machines can be quite intimidating for patients, but the CS 8100 is actually comfortable - everyone so far has loved it (the cool noises like something out of Dr Who help too!).
How are you measuring the repayment of a purchase like this?
I know that other practices see this as a revenue generator, but for us, we wanted to focus on how it will assist the patients’ needs. I think it’s a much better approach to see how it will benefit the patient, because if they’re benefiting then, ultimately, your practice will benefit from it too.