Quality Assurance in Dental Radiography

Quality assurance is a plan of action to ensure that a diagnostic x-ray facility will produce consistent, high-quality images with a minimum of exposure to patients and personnel.

A complete quality assurance program is easy to establish and maintain. Quality assurance will pay for itself, not only financially, but by reducing exposure to patients and personnel and helping the dental community provide better patient care.

Quality assurance means regular testing to detect equipment malfunctions, planned monitoring and scheduled maintenance for consistent film processing, and regular assessment of other variables that affect image quality.

The benefits derived from a quality assurance program far outweigh implementation efforts and costs. In addition to aiding diagnosis, a well carried out quality assurance program results in minimized radiation dosage to patients because radiographs are produced under the most favorable conditions.

Fewer repeat radiographs mean time and cost savings for both patients and operators. Regular testing also helps ensure compliance with state and federal regulations.