2 minute read
Kidding Around
Can you find the differences in the image on the right from the image on the left?
“Do I really need x-rays?”
When coming in for a dental appointment, one of the initial steps that are done is to take x-rays. On occasion, there will be some pushback about whether x-rays are actually needed. Once you get to the root of that question, it usually comes down to a few things: worried about what it will show and radiation amounts. Let’s break those down a bit.
When we look in someone’s mouth, we are only getting a part of the bigger picture of determining your dental health. We are not able to see what’s going on in between the teeth or inside the tooth. We use x-rays to help us get the full picture so we can help to figure out the problem. When a person doesn’t want x-rays, we usually tell them the analogy that it’s like taking your car to the mechanic and not letting them open up the hood. X-rays are NEEDED to figure out what’s going on. Also, if we never take x-rays, we may miss something that could have been fixed when it was very small, rather than waiting for it to hurt and be much more expensive. Now, let’s talk about radiation amounts. Typically when people are worried about radiation amounts, they are usually thinking about medical grade CT’s rather than dental x-rays. The difference in radiation amounts is quite drastic. Let’s have a baseline for the amount of radiation you get when you are outside for the day and let’s call that X. When you get a medical grade CT of your abdomen, that’s 3 years worth of X. When you get a single dental x-ray of a tooth, it’s about 3 days worth of X. Big difference isn’t it? What’s even more surprising is when you fly in a normal commercial airline, you get 10 days worth of X! The point is you get very minimal exposure to radiation when getting dental x-rays done. Having x-rays done is 100% up to you and you need to make that decision for yourself, but it sure lets us do a more thorough job of keeping your mouth healthy!
If you have a question or a topic you want to be discussed, send an email to drlogan@drscottlogan.com
