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Choosing Computers

According to a recent survey, less than 50% of dentists currently have computers in their operatories. For the office that wishes to move towards the “paperless” or chartless concept that is all the rage right now, computers in the treatment rooms are mandatory. All images that are captured, whether they are intraoral camera pictures, digital camera pictures, or digital x-rays, must be saved for future reference and should also be visible to the patient to assist in co-diagnosis. However, this is simply not feasible without a computer in the operatory. Many practitioners find it difficult to choose the right computer, so the purpose of this article is to review the specifications that should be chosen for an operatory computer. We will focus only on desktop-style computers; the argument of desktop vs. a laptop or Tablet will be left for another article. Also keep in mind that this is being written in June 2009: technology is changing rapidly and may be slightly outdated by the time you read this.

Computer Case Design
Most of us are familiar with the older desktop or upright mini-tower designs. In the operatory however, space is often at a premium and in many cases, a small-form-factor computer makes the most sense. These computers come in multiple designs. Some are very thin and long and look like two laptops stacked on top of each other, such as the Dell Optiplex 760 SFF. Others, like the Shuttle, look more like a toaster. One of the decisions that must be made is the need for regular PCI-E cards. The Shuttle-style computers can usually allow use of one PCI-E and one PCI card, where the thinner models do not.

Processor
Intel recently decided to forgo their nomenclature based on chip speed, and are instead now using a “series” designation. The rationale is that while processor speed is important, the size of the cache and the functionality is also a factor. This can be very confusing as there are now single core chips, Core 2 Duo, Quad Core, etc. Most dental offices will find that a Core 2 Duo processor that is around 2 GHz in speed will provide plenty of power for the practice.

Memory
When discussing memory, there are two types of memory that are occasionally mixed-up: RAM (Random Access Memory) and Hard Drive capacity. The confusion lies in the fact that hard drive sizes are expressed in gigabytes of RAM. Usually when we are talking about memory, we refer to the RAM, the internal memory that loses all information when the computer is turned off. For a dental operatory, we recommend a minimum of 2 GB of RAM. Some digital radiography companies are starting to suggest that dentists use 4 GB of RAM, but we have yet to see any major performance boosts with this extra memory. For the hard drive, 80 GB is more than adequate. In almost all offices, the workstations will not be storing any practice management or image data on their hard drives, and this data will instead be stored on the server, so there’s little reason to pay extra for a 250-500 GB hard drive for an operatory workstation.

Operating System
Windows XP Professional is still the ideal choice for the office environment. It contains many features not found in XP Home, such as the ability to automatically log into certain types of networks, and Remote Desktop, which allows you to log into the computer from home or anywhere else in the world. However, the core of Professional and Home are identical, so any program that runs on Professional should run identically on Home as well. Vista was not well-received and many programs and devices still have issues with it, and considering that Windows 7 should be out by the Holidays, I don’t suggest purchasing Vista for new computers at this time.

Warranty
Ideally, you should purchase a computer with a warranty that is equal to the amount of time that you plan on owning the computer. With the ever-changing nature of technology, most offices will find that three years is the expected life-span of these computers. The computers will still run beyond three years, but will have trouble keeping up with the applications available at that time.

Dentists should take the time to choose computers based on their current and future needs, rather than looking at the cost of the systems as the most important feature.

Lorne Lavine, DMD is the Founder and President of Dental Technology Consultants. Dr. Lavine holds two prestigious certifications, the A+ Certified Technician designation and the Network+ Certified Professional. These designations demonstrate proficiency in computer repair, operating systems, network design and installation. Dental Technology Consultants provides dentists a full range of services relating to the implementation of technology.

Interested in having Dr. Lavine speak to your dental society or study club? Click here. Dr. Lavine can be reached at drlavine@thedentistsnetwork.net.

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