Issue 3.3

Abstract: The use of a computer in an orthodontic office is nowadays very common, video-writing, filing of bookkeeping and personal data, management of radiographic analyses, in fact, find in it an essential technological support. Therefore as any other instrument in our office, its cost to benefit ratio must be evaluated, but the nature of the tool requires knowledge of hardware and software to obtain an efficient and advantageous binomial in function of specific needs. The financial investment made in order to prepare managerial and operative procedures, risks to suffer heavy losses if you decide to change the operating system or the information platform after a few years. Then a careful reflection becomes necessary to make conscious, reasoned choices, unconditioned by the marketing, which could come out as a disadvantage in the medium-long period. Inexperienced users often neglect the choice of the personal computer’s operating system in the orthodontic office. In reality, considering the choice of the application program as a priority and adapting ourselves to specific requests, we often risk to lose sight of the binomial processor-operating system. This represents the real “engine” of our computer, and many other characteristics that will influence all future hardware and software.