Digital X-Ray Sensors Archives - Jazz Imaging

Children’s Dental Fun Zone is a 20-office pediatric dental group across Southern California. For more than 20 years, its offices ran on phosphor plates. After a sensor pilot that didn’t scale, the group moved to Jazz SOLO and MINOR digital sensors with a Jazz Club subscription that includes lifetime warranty and damage coverage.

We asked Evelyn Lahiji, Chief Operating Officer of Children’s Dental Fun Zone, why they switched, how the rollout went and what changed. If you run a DSO or any multi-location dental practice, her answers cover the questions you’re probably already asking. Here they are, in her words.

At a Glance

Organization: Children’s Dental Fun Zone, a pediatric dentistry and orthodontics group
Size: 20 offices across Southern California
Leadership: Evelyn Lahiji, Chief Operating Officer
Payers accepted: Medi-Cal, Denti-Cal, PPO and HMO
Before: Phosphor plates for 20+ years, then a one-office pilot of another sensor
After: Jazz SOLO and MINOR sensors with a Jazz Club subscription that includes lifetime warranty and damage coverage
Rollout: One training day, then one day of live patient use

Why This Pediatric Dental Group Moved Off Phosphor Plates

Phosphor plates are familiar. That doesn’t make them cheap. Plates have to be replaced, the equipment needs upkeep, and across 20 offices those costs add up. For Children’s Dental Fun Zone, image quality was a problem too.

“We had been using phosphor plates for over 20 years, and the cost of maintaining the equipment and replacing the plates was becoming a significant burden on our offices. We were also unhappy with the X-ray quality and knew it was time for a change.”

For many DSOs and multi-location groups, the phosphor plates vs. digital sensors question comes down to the same two things: ongoing cost and diagnostic image quality. Fun Zone had problems with both.

Beyond Cost: What the Research Says About Phosphor Plates

Published research adds more reasons groups are moving on. In a 2022 clinical study, a nine-image series took 167 seconds with a digital sensor vs. 234 seconds with plates, because every plate has to be scanned. Plates also wear out, though estimates vary widely: about 50 uses in one dental school study and up to 200 in a lab study. Their latent images fade, so researchers advise scanning within about 10 minutes. Barriers aren’t foolproof either. In one study, 17.5% to 32.5% of plates grew bacteria despite barrier envelopes. Sensors need barriers too, but every plate is unbagged and handled for every image, and contamination has been traced to that extraction step. One review found artifacts or errors in 1,822 of 5,000 plate images.

Digital is now the norm. In the 2014–15 FDA/CRCPD dental survey, 85.6% of US sites were digital, and among digital sites that reported a receptor type, 79.5% used sensors and 20.5% used plates. In 2023, the ADA put digital at about 90% of US practices.

When a Digital Sensor Pilot Doesn’t Scale Across Locations

Before Jazz, the group tested another digital sensor in a single office. It didn’t scale.

“Unfortunately, the sensors were bulky, and the cost made it difficult to expand to our other locations.”

That’s the trap for any multi-location dental practice. A sensor has to work in the operatory, and the cost has to make sense for every office in the group. Their previous sensors were too bulky and too expensive to roll out.

A Dental Sensor Warranty Built for Pediatric Wear and Tear

In a pediatric practice, sensors get dropped, bitten and handled all day. Evelyn was clear about what tipped the decision.

“The sensor warranty was a major factor in our decision. As a large pediatric dental group, we experience a lot of wear and tear on our equipment.”

Coverage on paper isn’t enough. What matters is how fast a broken sensor gets replaced.

“Having a team that responds quickly and provides replacement sensors in a short amount of time makes a real difference.”

That’s the idea behind Jazz Club: sensors as a service. One monthly subscription covers the hardware, a lifetime warranty with no deductible and unlimited damage forgiveness. When a sensor breaks, it gets replaced, so operatories stay up and running without surprise repair bills.

Service mattered as much as hardware:

“Jazz’s customer service has been excellent. Their team is supportive, and the system is easy for our staff to use.”

Rolling Out Digital X-Ray Sensors Across a Multi-Location Dental Group

Switching every office is the part most groups dread. Fun Zone kept it simple.

“We scheduled a dedicated training day, followed by a day of using the sensors with patients, so everyone could get comfortable with the system.”

That’s one day of training and one day with patients. Change still takes some adjusting, and the support team’s job is to make that part quick.

“The Jazz team was very helpful throughout the process. Their support helped us work through the adjustment and get everyone on the same page.”

Results: Clearer X-Rays, Better Diagnoses and Better Conversations with Families

The biggest change was the image.

“The biggest benefit has been the improved X-ray quality. Clearer images help our doctors see more detail and make more informed diagnoses.”

In her full answer, Evelyn added: “They also help us explain our findings to patients and parents more clearly.”

On the operations side, a simpler system makes a large group easier to run:

“Operationally, having an easy-to-use system and responsive support helps us manage equipment needs across our offices.”

Fun Zone also pairs its clearer X-rays with the AI in Dentrix Ascend. Evelyn credits the two working together:

“Together with clearer X-rays, it helps us explain findings and recommended treatment to patients and parents. When families better understand what we are seeing and why treatment is needed, it supports treatment acceptance.”

For a pediatric group, the parent is the one who says yes. When clear images and AI-assisted explanations help families see what the doctor sees, that conversation gets easier.

Read the full story: Children’s Dental Fun Zone case study

Running Multiple Offices? Let’s Talk About Your Group

Engineered from experience

Jazz Imaging was founded by the engineering team behind DEXIS and Gendex sensors.

We design and manufacture our SOLO and MINOR sensors in San Jose, California, and they come with free Classic imaging software. With Jazz Club, sensors work like a service: one monthly subscription covers the hardware, a lifetime no-deductible warranty and unlimited damage forgiveness, including drops and bites.

Children’s Dental Fun Zone accepts Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal, and its story fits any budget-conscious DSO or multi-location group that needs every operatory up and running, without paying extra every time a sensor breaks. X-Rays Without Extortion.

See what Jazz looks like across your group.

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