- technique (one of the most important, but generally difficult to interpret without some tuition. However some good indicators are time spent in mouth during procedures, how prepared is the dentist (hunting for tools is worrisome), level of pain, number of times work has had to be fixed)
- hygiene (appropriate glove changing, mask, tool use and sterilization). The most obvious things I notice are whether tools are coming out of sterilization bags and being placed on a sanitized surface. Does the dentist return a tool that's been in your mouth back to the sanitized surface?
- equipment (age of equipment, tech levels (not too high - don't forget, you the patient are paying for it). This is also important as digital x-rays use much less radiation and allow for immediate review with the patient.
- patient manner (attentiveness to pain and mouth discomfort, willingness to answer questions and properly explain procedures, or even minor things like accommodating patient embarrassment of tooth condition)
- upsell (does the dentist try to have you buy an occlusal splint without demonstrating actual tooth wear, sell you on cosmetic surgery, or attempt immediate intervention constantly rather than a wait and see approach)
- preventative methods (often, but not too often periodontal examinations, fluoride treatments, x-rays, etc)
Actually the operative word should be can use much less radiation. Because the sensors are digital, the software will auto-compensate for exposure levels. A study at my university by the physicists in the radiology department showed that the x-ray techs were often using much higher exposure settings than necessary on the digital setups, but no one was noticing. On film, overexposure would make the images unreadable, and it would have been noticed immediately.
A question you need to ask your dentist is, "how often is your x-ray equipment calibrated?"
Granted, you're getting much less radiation exposure at the dentist's than at the doctor's office, unless you're getting dental CT's.
Just for clarification, that tool SHOULD be going back to the sanitized surface correct?
My brother, who is a dentist, used both film and digital in school and found he preferred the resolution of film. No doubt digital will improve though.
1. The digital x-ray plates are rigid. He finds this deforms the soft tissue too much to show a good picture.
2. Scaling. With film, he can take a direct measurement at 1:1 scale off the image. With digital, the scale isn't 1:1 (and variable? I wasn't clear on that), making it more difficult to work with. One imagines this would be a simple problem to solve.
(The bad news is that we were discussing this as he was investigating a 9mm pocket at the root of one tooth. He says I'll at least need a root canal; likely lose the tooth and need an implant. He's sent me to my "regular" dentist for a 2nd opinion -- that gives me more trust.)