Teleradiology
Your Dental Radiology Partners
MFI provide a premium reporting service for all dental practices, both specialist and general, who acquire scans from their own cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), orthopantomagram (OPG) and lateral cephalogram machines.
MFI generates the highest level of interpretation for your images and produces a comprehensive report. Clinically significant incidental findings are communicated back to the referring doctor and the report helps in creating the most effective treatment plan and becoming a component of informed consent, helping a practice provide the best possible standard of care.
Studies are reported by Emeritus Professor Paul Monsour, Associate Professor Ronnie Ptasznik, Dr Scott McNab, Dr Daniel Selim, Dr Ivor Berman, Dr Remy Golding and Dr Tess Matias, recognised experts and leaders in both dental and medical radiology.
With their experience, MFI has earned a reputation for providing the highest quality of professional diagnostic service where patient care is the priority, to specialist and general dentists, as well as surgeons.
Benefits derived from engaging MFI’s teleradiology reporting service include:
- Significant pathology may be discovered that could otherwise not have been appreciated
- Minimise any medico-legal exposure for the dentist or practice
- Best-in-class service to help facilitate the highest standard of patient care
- Assist in the treatment plan of patients
- Bulk billing enables this service to be provided at zero cost to the patient and practice. Bulk billing is not available for CBCT from General Dentists
ADA recommendations
The very real possibility of dental practitioners being held medicolegally responsible for failure to detect or correctly interpret nonodontogenic pathology within the extensive volumetric data set of a CBCT has been considered by the Australian Dental Associations.
In 2021 the Australian Dental Association reviewed its policy on the responsibilities of those dentists prescribing or performing CBCT.
The Australian Dental Association Policy Statement 6.22, DentoMaxillofacial Cone Beam Volumetric Tomography section 2.8 states:
‘’Dentists must be responsible for ensuring that the entire data in any CBCT that they prescribe are reviewed and interpreted by a practitioner with suitable training and experience, with appropriate records being maintained.’’
Medico-legal implications for dentists
Practitioners are responsible for reporting on the whole volume of data that has been taken and incidentals findings are not uncommon.
Dentists may be exposed to significant medico-legal risks by not appreciating odontogenic and non-odontogenic pathology contained within the CBCT volume. Such pathology may arise within facial structures and be the cause of symptoms presenting to the dentist.
The volume of data obtained will also include non-dental structures which may be unfamiliar to a dentist, including the soft tissues of the neck, upper cervical spine, airways, sinuses, and base of skull.
Medicare
CBCT for surgeons or specialist dentists, and OPG/Ceph for surgeons, specialist and general dentists attract Medicare rebates, our experienced team can assist with the process of getting your practice set up and accredited with Medicare.
Private Health Insurance
There is the potential for patients with comprehensive private health insurance to claim a rebate from their private health insurer for interpretation of CBCT data sets.