dental xray processing

Ces1um · Dec 29, 2016

I have access to a dental darkroom and we have a dental xray processor. Dental xrays are silver based emulsions on a celluloid film. They are developed in premixed chemicals simply labelled as "developer" and "fixer". There is no information, even on the whmis sheets saying what the chemicals actually are (I mean is it rodinol or whatever. I'm sure it says the actual chemicals used) , or even who manufactures originally (it's all rebranded). The processor has a warmed developer and fixer tank, along with a dryer. I was wondering if anybody out there might have some information about what these chemicals are and if they would be compatible with traditional black and white photographic film?

railwayman3 · Dec 29, 2016

My own dentist uses both traditional and digital xrays....he trained with the traditional type and says that you can sometimes get better images on one or the other depending on what you're trying to look at. The processing of the film images seems very quick, so presumable some kind of rapid-access developer and fixer ?
The small films and their subsequently scanned images have always looked quite grainy to me, but maybe that's expected from xray images? (IDK?)

Ces1um · Dec 29, 2016

Both the films and digital sensors always produce a grainy image. The film radiographs can be processed in as quickly as 3.5 minutes but there is a 5 min processing time which results in a much more stable image. I was hoping I could use the processor for my black and white film as the chemistry must be similar. I just hate ruining a test roll.

Rick A · Dec 29, 2016

I shoot xray film(11x14 inch cut down to 5x7 inch )process in Rodinal 1+100 for 9 minutes in a rotary drum, normal stop bath and fixer. I shoot at ISO 50 and develop for continuous tone. The difference is there's no AH layer and the film is double sided(emulsion both sides), it is capable of fine negatives suitable for printing with minimal grain. Most dental processors are designed for approx. 90 seconds dry to dry, using concentrated high speed developers that produce high contrast results.

jvo · Dec 29, 2016

wouldn't time would be the most critical issue... how much time might the film be exposed to the developer and that will determine what developer you can use? (temperature would obviously enter into it.)

fun

Ces1um · Dec 29, 2016

our processor has two modes. one is "endo" which is 3.5 minutes and the other is a 5 minute cycle. during that time it goes from developer to fixer to a dryer and is fed through by rollers. I think the film curl from photographic film would keep me from using the automatic function, unless i taped some kind of leader to the film. It would be easier to hand dip the reel from a paterson tank. I forget the temperature its set at but it's definitely quite warm. The machine has a heating pad below each of the chemical trays. I just wonder what my development times would be if I put regular photographic film into these chemicals? I have no way of knowing what the dilution of developer/fixer is and I also have no idea what brand or product type these chemicals are.

also- rick a- How on earth did you ever figure out the iso of dental X-ray film?

Rick A · Dec 29, 2016

also- rick a- How on earth did you ever figure out the iso of dental X-ray film?

testing

Ces1um · Dec 29, 2016

wow. that takes perseverance!

darkroommike · Dec 29, 2016

Sounds like you're using the newer RA Rapid Access stuff. Used to be that manual X-ray processing used D-19 and Rapid Fixer. I don't think the fixer has changed (much?) and I suspect that the Developer is a close cousin to D19 even now. Not so good for small formats, though we used to process 35mm aerial stuff in D-19 grain is bigger than I like.

Ces1um · Jul 13, 2017

After procrastinating for over a half year I decided to try developing 35mm, 120 and 110 black and white films - 100iso to 400 iso in my dental processor. I tried it at 28 degrees (normal operating temperature) and at room temperature (approx 20 degrees). I found that the results were slightly higher contrast and I found the grain across the board was not overtly worse than when I get my film developed by a professional lab. One effect I did notice though was a loss of sensitivity to the brighter areas of the photo. Darker shades show quite a range of tones but as you get to the lighter shades there is a fairly abrupt transition from light grey to blown out white. This was evident in all the films and across all temperatures, but was slightly improved in the room temperature processing. This wasn't a rigorous scientific comparison though. Overall I'm pleased with the results and I loved getting dry, streak free negatives.

dental xray processing

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