A comparison of digital and film radiography in Dutch dental practices assessed by questionnaire

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the experiences of general dental practitioners (GDPs) with solid-state and storage phosphor digital sensors compared to film. Methods: In a mail survey 578 questionnaires were sent to Dutch GDPs who were users of digital X-ray detectors and film. The questionnaire requested demographic data, information about the digital system used and the user-friendliness of the X-ray detector system. In the analysis of the data these variables were related to the type of system used and also to the demographic data. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. variance-analysis (One-Way ANOVA) and nonparametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon) (SPSS 9.0). Results: Four hundred and twenty-four questionnaires were returned (overall response rate 73%). The user-friendliness of the handling of the different systems before exposing the radiograph is better for conventional film, whereas the handling after exposing the radiograph favoured the digital X-ray detector systems. Conclusions: The user-friendliness was best for film pre-exposure and digital sensors post-exposure.