PracticeWorks Donates Digital Radiography Sensors To Mercy Ships

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, July 2009 — PracticeWorks Systems, LLC, recently donated 20 KODAK RVG Digital Radiography Systems to Mercy Ships, a global charity that operates ships providing medical and dental care to residents of developing nations. The intraoral sensors are already in use at mobile clinics and onboard the Africa Mercy, the world’s largest charity hospital ship, to provide digital X-rays for patients receiving dental care during the ship’s nine-month deployment to Benin, West Africa.
    The Africa Mercy contains six operating rooms, an intensive care unit and ward space for up to 78 patients. Volunteer dentists, physicians, surgeons and medical staff from more than 30 nations serve onboard — delivering much-needed health services by mobilizing people and resources worldwide. 
    This donation helped Mercy Ships to convert its dental operatory from radiographic dental film to a digital environment, enabling the volunteer staff to achieve greater productivity and deliver better patient care. It also eliminated the difficult logistics and environmental impact of managing film chemistry and processing in remote regions. 
    “One of our challenges here at the field set-up is how can we do X-rays?  We had some self-developing X-rays, but it was inconvenient and took a long time.  Then Kodak came along and told us they would donate digital sensors.  Now we can have X-rays within a few seconds.  And, of course, we are more efficient; we can see more patients,” said Dr. Dag Tvedt, Mercy Ships Chief Dental Officer.
    “For the team to work together and know that somebody is willing to give us this equipment and help us so we can do our job, that’s a blessing,” added Dr. Tvedt.
    Mercy Ships provides medical and dental care from ships and also operates portable clinics that are set up in adjacent villages to serve residents who are unable to travel to the ship. For more information, visit www.mercyships.org.
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About PracticeWorks Systems, LLC
PracticeWorks Systems, LLC, is the exclusive maker of KODAK Dental Systems. KODAK Dental Digital Imaging and Practice Management Systems help dental professionals streamline workflow and enhance patient care by enabling them to capture, share, and use images and information easily and effectively.

PracticeWorks is part of Carestream Health, Inc.’s dental systems group. Carestream Health is a leading provider of dental and medical imaging and IT solutions, serving customers in more than 150 countries.

For more information, contact your PracticeWorks representative, call 1-800-944-6365 or visit www.kodakdental.com.

ABOUT MERCY SHIPS:
Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to deliver free, world-class health care services to those without access in the developing world.  Founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 70 countries providing services valued at more than $ 748 million, directly impacting more than 2.16 million direct beneficiaries. More than 1,200 crew worldwide, representing more than 40 nations, are joined each year by 2,000 short-term volunteers.  Professionals including surgeons, dentists, nurses, health care trainers, teachers, cooks, seamen, engineers, and agriculturalists donate their time and skills to the effort.  For more information click on www.mercyships.org