When Dr. Yan Razdolsky looks back on his career as an orthodontist, he feels in some respects as though a whole new world was opened to him last summer.
July 2013 is when we added the i-CAT FLX, a cone beam 3D dental imaging device, to our practice. Since then, Dr. Razdolsky has identified a wide variety of undiagnosed oral health issues in some of our patients.
The i-CAT FLX provides highly detailed images of teeth, gums and facial bones, and provides increased flexibility in scanning, planning and treatment, as well as a range of innovative features that deliver increased clarity, ease of use and control. It gives Dr. Razdolsky a crystal-clear picture of what he is dealing with as he formulates your child’s treatment plan.
You might ask yourself, “Just what is an i-CAT FLX, anyway?” Think of an X-ray machine on steroids. Just take a look at the details in this image. You can’t get that level of quality and detail from a traditional X-ray.
In addition to helping us create more thorough treatment plans, Dr. Razdolsky is amazed by the things he has found in some of these images. On one occasion, he found a stent in someone’s brain. Yes, you read that correctly. The patient suffered from seizures, and a surgeon placed the intracranial surgical stent some years earlier. The patient neglected to inform us of this, so imagine Dr. Razdolsky’s surprise after capturing these images for orthodontic treatment!
This may be our most shocking discovery to date, but there have been many other discoveries that we’re so thankful for finding because they posed long-term health risks to our patients. Dr. Razdolsky has identified degenerative joint disease, bone cysts, and undiagnosed damage caused by periodontal disease, just to name a few examples.
Besides being a superior detection device, the i-CAT FLX is safe, in terms of offering the lowest dose of radiation available. Look at these levels of radiation you’re exposed to in the following situations:
- 2,920 uSv – the normal annual background radiation from living on Earth
- 10,000-15,000 uSv – the normal annual background radiation if you live in Colorado
- 4.7-14.9 uSv – digital panoramic X-ray
- 150 uSv – Full mouth series
- 1,200-3,300 uSv – Medical CT scan
Our i-CAT FLX emits between 8-20 uSv. The actual exposure time is about 2.4 seconds for an 8.9-second scan.
We hope this information makes you feel even more confident about selecting Forever Smiles to oversee your child’s orthodontic treatment. You can rest assured that we are always on the lookout for new ways to provide the most advanced, effective treatment options available today. Your child’s orthodontic improvements give us a reason to smile every day.
