This month’s newsletter offers a fresh start for 2026. We're sharing expert tips for optimizing your imaging workflow, essential sensor care protocols, and the latest industry news and upcoming events.
EXPERT INSIGHTS
A Fresh Year for Image Quality and Diagnostic Confidence
The new year is a great time to refresh clinical habits that impact image quality, diagnostic confidence, and your patient’s experience. Clear, consistent, and diagnostic radiographs support accurate differential diagnoses, better patient communication, and more predictable care. This month’s Expert Insights focuses on simple imaging guidelines that help teams start the year strong—while reinforcing best practices aligned with CDC and ADA guidelines, ensuring safety and clinical excellence.
Reset Imaging Standards
Revisit proper exposure settings, sensor positioning protocols, and retake thresholds. Small inconsistencies can add up over time, but a quick team reset helps ensure images are diagnostically sound, reproducible, and clinically reliable across providers, equipment, and operators.
Patient-Centered Imaging
Clear digital images start with patient comfort. Thoughtful sensor placement, steady positioning, and mindful communication reduce movement and retakes while improving patient cooperation. When patients are more comfortable, clinicians gain diagnostic images—and a smoother workflow follows.
Make Image Review a Team Habit
The new year is also a great time to normalize periodic, scheduled image reviews. Regularly checking for proper exposure, geometry, and positioning errors turns everyday imaging into a learning opportunity, helping teams continuously improve technique and patient confidence.
Protect Image Quality at the Source
Clinical excellence depends on protecting imaging tools at every step. Using proper FDA approved barriers, careful handling, and consistent disinfecting — while always following CDC and ADA requirements — will help prevent accidental damage, and maintains sensor performance while supporting infection control and long-term reliability.
CLINICAL INSIGHTS
Small Sensor Habits, Lasting Impact
Just like New Year resolutions help improve personal health and habits, small adjustments to how your team cares for digital sensors can have a lasting impact on clinical performance and practice efficiency. Well-maintained sensor systems will capture clear, accurate images on the first attempt, helping reduce retakes, minimize patient exposure, and keep appointments moving smoothly. Just as importantly, consistent sensor care helps protect a critical clinical asset — reducing avoidable damage, unexpected downtime, and premature replacement costs. A little daily attention will result in reliable imaging, smoother workflows, and a stronger return on your technology investment throughout the year.
Mindful Handling
Handle sensors with care at all times. Avoid dropping the sensor, twisting or bending the cable. Disconnect the sensor by ending the capture sequence, unplugging the sensor by the USB plug rather than the cord. To protect the equipment during imaging, avoid using the word “bite” when instructing patients; instead, guide them to “slowly close” to prevent inadvertent biting of the sensor or cable.
Safe Storage
Store sensors on designated wall hangers or in designated areas where cables can hang freely. Avoid tight bends or pinching to prevent internal wire damage, and always consult your manufacturer’s guidelines for specific storage requirements.
Consistent Protection
Safeguard both patients and equipment, by using a new FDA-approved barrier sleeve for every patient, and disinfecting the sensor and cable between patients with approved disinfectants only. Always follow current CDC and ADA guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting heat-sensitive equipment. Using an XCP-type sensor holder during positioning not only improves image accuracy, but can also help protect the sensor from damage.
Review Regularly
Routine inspections of sensors and cables help preempt image artifacts and costly failures. Regularly retraining staff on these protocols minimizes downtime while ensuring diagnostic clarity and maximizing the lifespan of your digital investment.
Episode: “Bananas Vs. Dental Radiographs — Which Has More Radiation?"
In this engaging episode, Lauren Godshall, RDH breaks down a curious and useful comparison between radiation from dental X-rays and everyday sources like bananas. It’s a great 5-minutelisten for dental professionals who want to explain radiation exposure in relatable terms and strengthen patient conversations about safety, imaging necessity, and comfort.
(Read by Jackie Sanders)
PROFILE
Modernizing Safety: Dr. Anita Gohel
According to the American Dental Association, new imaging standards are being championed by Dr. Anita Gohel, Chair of Oral & Maxillofacial Diagnostic Sciences at the University of Florida. A past president of the AAOMR, Dr. Gohel brings deep expertise in digital sensor technology and “clinically necessary” imaging, enabling the detection of critical bone pathologies and systemic health markers that often go undetected in routine dental care.Read the full reporthere.
XDR® offers dentist-driven radiology, imaging, and diagnostic tools that enhance patient care, improve efficiency, and drive practice success by bridging the gap between dentistry and technology.
XDR Radiology, 11300 W Olympic, Suite 710, Los Angeles,CA,90064
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