Use and implication of the DICOM standard in dentistry.

DICOM is an international imaging standard that was developed for medicine and has been extended to support dentistry among other professions. This standard can provide the basis of interoperability for digital system outputs, providing image portability and reducing the danger of obsolescence rendering valuable diagnostic information impossible to display. This paper presents a brief overview of the origins and components of the DICOM standard and reports an ongoing initiative to promote interoperability within the DICOM as the industry standard for digital imaging in dentistry.