Dentists carrying out the preparation work for dental implants and other procedures may soon be able to benefit from using a new kind of technology.
Swedish firm Nanospace and the Scint-X Company have worked together to create a new X-ray camera that can produce detailed images of what is going in inside patients' mouths.
It is based on space technology, with the firm already using a similar 'structured scintillator' to cut out the world's smallest rocket propeller.
Researchers hope that by incorporating the mechanism into dentistry, it could reduce discomfort for patients and provide more detailed images for healthcare practitioners to work from.
"With this unique and patented manufacturing technique we can obtain substantially higher resolution than what is on the market today," said Scint-X spokesperson Per Wiklund.
According to Dental Fear Central, estimates suggest that five per cent of Westerners avoid the dentist altogether because they are afraid of the procedures they may have to undergo, perhaps including X-rays.
