EL PASO, Texas, Feb. 10, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- An East El Paso veterinarian wants to make local pet owners aware of a safer, faster, more accurate method of taking veterinary x-rays. According to Dr. Orlando Garza, East El Paso Animal Hospital's digital radiology services provide clearer images of animal's teeth and surrounding bone structures than traditional x-rays while also vastly reducing the processing time and the amount of radiation used. "Digital x-rays represent the advancements made in pet dental radiology," says Dr. Garza," and we encourage pet owners to insist on it for their pets."
Veterinarians take dental x-rays for the same reasons dentists take x-rays images of human mouths. The ability of x-rays to penetrate soft tissues allows the vet to see structural details of hard tissues such as bone, including the presence of cavities, cracks, bone tumors, bone loss from periodontal disease, dental abscesses, or other issues that require treatment.
It can also help the vet determine how well the pet is recovering from an oral surgery procedure. Yet while x-rays have long been a staple of dental wellness exams, traditional procedures present certain shortcomings. Fine details of images can sometimes lack clarity, an issue that magnification cannot resolve. The radiation used to capture the images exceeds the amount used in modern digital techniques, and the photographic plates take a certain amount of time to process before the images can be viewed. "This technology served its purpose when it was all we had," says Dr. Garza. "Today, however, digital techniques offer several marked advantages and benefits."
The digital method of capturing x-rays takes considerably less time than traditional methods, offering the pet a briefer and more comfortable experience while exposing him/her to the absolute minimum amount of radiation necessary. The images themselves offer greater clarity and detail levels than their analog counterparts, and the veterinarian can enlarge them to focus on the tiniest details of a tooth or bone abnormality. "The images are digital data, so we can view, manipulate and print them out on a computer," says Dr. Garza. "The digital format eliminates any need for film processing, so we can be looking at finished, highly accurate images in a fraction of time it used to take." The East El Paso veterinarian points out that pets typically enjoy a shorter dental visit, while owners get the treatment recommendations they need that much faster.
Dr. Garza urges pet owners to seek digital x-rays for their animals' pet dental wellness exams. "Not every animal hospital offers the digital x-rays technology we use here at our clinic," he says. "But we feel that it's important to provide pets with the safest, speediest, most accurate x-rays possible."
In addition to digital x-rays, East El Paso animal Hospital offers emergency treatments and routine wellness exams, including pet senior care and puppy and kitten care.