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Medical Forum / General / Dentistry / June 2006new dentist requested x-rays from my last dentist
i've found a great new practicing D.D. and he is going to have my mouth fitted for new dentures i will receive from him & his staff. he wasn't able to get my recent (within past 12 months) x-rays from my prior dentist. he asked me if i could see if i could. i went to her with this request for my entire case history, info., x-rays the whole works. she told me it would take 3 weeks to get all this info and such, along with an office fee of $25. 00. i was o.k. with all this and complied. end of 3 weeks plus 3 more days & i'm calling her asking her office for my file and such. get treated in a totally unprofessional manner & blown off. daily calls to office with my request when finally told to come in and pick it up. i go in and front office gal hands me a photo copy of my x-rays (with a printer date of THAT DAY OF PICK UP printed at bottom of paper) and shown the door. MY QUESTION IS: WILL A PHOTO COPY OF MY TEETH X-RAYS BE ENOUGH FOR MY NEW GREAT DENTIST TO MAKE MY NEW DENTURES, OR WILL HE NEED THE ACTUAL X-RAYS THAT ARE ON FILM? >i've found a great new practicing D.D. and he is going to have my mouth >fitted for new dentures i will receive from him & his staff. he wasn't able [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >IS: WILL A PHOTO COPY OF MY TEETH X-RAYS BE ENOUGH FOR MY NEW GREAT DENTIST >TO MAKE MY NEW DENTURES, OR WILL HE NEED THE ACTUAL X-RAYS THAT ARE ON FILM? I am not a dentist, but when I asked for xrays from my previous dentist I was told it would cost me $25 but it was going to be the actual film or copies - as in film copies, not paper copies - of the actual xrays. I also know that one dentist insisted on giving me paper printed copies of an xray, despite my requesting the DIGITAL copies, and when I gave the paper copy to my oral surgeon he said it was worthless. I think it depends on what state you live in, as to what laws there are about this. Any dentists care to elaborate on this? I feel that if I paid for the xrays in the first place I should be able to get those xrays to give to my new dentist; they've already been paid for by me, so why can't I get them? >>i've found a great new practicing D.D. and he is going to have my mouth >>fitted for new dentures i will receive from him & his staff. he wasn't able [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > able to get those xrays to give to my new dentist; they've already > been paid for by me, so why can't I get them? Laws may vary by state. However, in those states I'm aware of, the patient is entitled to a COPY (not originals) of all records and radiographs. A "reasonable" fee may be charged for duplication. I see no reason why a digital file cannot be copied and given to the patient, but (here I'm not an expert) not all digital x-ray systems produce files in a .jpg format, and so the receiving dentist may or may not be able to read them on his/her computer. Steve > Laws may vary by state. However, in those states I'm aware of, the > patient is entitled to a COPY (not originals) of all records and > radiographs. A "reasonable" fee may be charged for duplication. This is exactly my understanding. Copies of the records belong to the patient. If you want more of what your old dentist has I would contact and complain to your state dental board. If you can locate the local dental society they may be able to impress upon your previous dentist the idea that providing full, legible copies of your records is the law. It may require the threat of a suit. Good luck! Dr. G. > I see no reason why a digital file cannot be copied and given to the > patient, but (here I'm not an expert) not all digital x-ray systems > produce files in a .jpg format, and so the receiving dentist may or may > not be able to read them on his/her computer. > > Steve  SignaturePlease reply via newsgroup. I totally agree with Dr. G. You deserve any details of your medical records. Try to complain so your old dentist can't do the same thing to other patients. Cheers, la agua fresca http://aguafresca.healthifica.com > > Laws may vary by state. However, in those states I'm aware of, the > > patient is entitled to a COPY (not originals) of all records and [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Dr. G. > I see no reason why a digital file cannot be copied and given to the >patient, but (here I'm not an expert) not all digital x-ray systems >produce files in a .jpg format, and so the receiving dentist may or may >not be able to read them on his/her computer. > >Steve Dr. Bornfeld, can you tell me what format those files ARE in? Is it a propietary format, or .gif, or .pnp or ? My oral surgeon gave only a really lousy photo copy to my new oral surgeon even though I told him I needed a good one. As a result my new oral surgeon had to take another xray. "Thanks, doc!" I begged him to send me the digital file but the woman in the office said she couldn't figure out how to do it (?!) and refused my offer to help her figure it out. >> I see no reason why a digital file cannot be copied and given to the >>patient, but (here I'm not an expert) not all digital x-ray systems [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > figure out how to do it (?!) and refused my offer to help her figure > it out. Many of them ARE .jpg, but not all. I don't have digital x-rays in my office, and this depends upon the specific manufacturer. No, there is no standard. I would hope though that the office with the digital x-rays would be able to tell you. I can't see why anyone would refuse to burn you a CD if you requested it. Steve >>> I see no reason why a digital file cannot be copied and given to the >>>patient, but (here I'm not an expert) not all digital x-ray systems [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > >Steve Thanks for the info. I think they just are computer illiterate and don't know how to burn a cd! And they are afraid to let a patient help them do it. OR, they just did not want to do it because I was going to the dental school to do my implants rather than let this surgeon do it. > Thanks for the info. > I think they just are computer illiterate and don't know how to burn a > cd! > And they are afraid to let a patient help them do it. > OR, they just did not want to do it because I was going to the dental > school to do my implants rather than let this surgeon do it. Possible of course, but speculative. I can't imagine withholding x-rays dissuading a patient from going elsewhere if they wished to. I have had patients ask me to take new x-rays rather than going back to the old dentist to ask for copies of recent x-rays--usually embarassment, I'd guess. The embarassment is usually misplaced--people change dentists or ask for x-rays for any number of reasons. A dentist would have to be hughly oversensitive or worse for it to bother him/her. Laziness? Computer illiteracy? Sure, could be. Steve It's hard to say if the photocopy would be adequate or not without seeing them. Show them to your new dentist and see what he thinks. > i've found a great new practicing D.D. and he is going to have my mouth > fitted for new dentures i will receive from him & his staff. he wasn't [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > TO MAKE MY NEW DENTURES, OR WILL HE NEED THE ACTUAL X-RAYS THAT ARE ON > FILM? > i've found a great new practicing D.D. and he is going to have my mouth > fitted for new dentures i will receive from him & his staff. he wasn't able [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > IS: WILL A PHOTO COPY OF MY TEETH X-RAYS BE ENOUGH FOR MY NEW GREAT DENTIST > TO MAKE MY NEW DENTURES, OR WILL HE NEED THE ACTUAL X-RAYS THAT ARE ON FILM? Can't say. If these are digital x-rays making a hard copy on paper is standard and shouldn't be confused with a routine photocopy. Actual film duplicates usually aren't of such great quality anyway. Few dentists will release original films to patients--all the legal lectures drum into our heads that this is a bad thing to do. However, digital printouts usually are satisfactory. I often use double films, so instead of copying I have two originals. This sometimes makes life much easier. Steve |
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