The entire fleet of Medical Teams International mobile dental vans in Washington (headquartered in Redmond) and Oregon will upgrade from film-based X-ray equipment to digital radiography, thanks to the generosity of six local foundations.
The new machines are made possible thanks to grant awards totaling $169,500 from private family foundations from the Northwest including:
• Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust
• Maybelle Clark MacDonald Fund
• Joseph Weston Foundation
• Hedco Foundation
• Oregon Community Foundation (William Swindells, Sr. Memorial Fund)
• Anonymous Washington Family Foundation
“Updating this equipment directly impacts our patients, volunteer dental professionals and the state health agencies partnering with Medical Teams to reach patients who can’t access quality dental care,” said Matt Stiller, Medical Teams’ Dental Program director “With expanded X-ray capabilities, we will be able to provide better diagnoses and care.”
Having the proper technology in a medical and dental office is crucial. The transition from film-based X-ray equipment to digital radiography brings many advantages, the first being efficiency. Traditional film X-rays can take up to five minutes to develop, roughly the same amount of time to anesthetize a tooth or perform a simple extraction, while digital x-rays are virtually instantaneous.
Digital radiography is imperative for proper diagnosis, treatment and patient education.
The upgrade to digital equipment means Medical Teams is now able to provide more rapid and accurate diagnoses, less radiation for patients, eliminate darkroom and use of chemicals, provide instant images and easily share images with other medical/dental providers.
