A dental visit often consists of having an x-ray. Dental x-rays show hidden cavities, fractured tooth roots, infected dental pulps, or other dental issues that cannot be seen by the naked eye. However, patients being asked to wear lead aprons and pregnant women often recommended not to have x-rays are some points of concern for many people. So are dental x-rays really safe? Let's find out:
Safety of Dental X-rays
Many dental clinics use digital x-rays rather than traditional x-rays. Digital x-rays expose a person to an average of 0.4 mrem of radiation while traditional x-rays can expose them to anywhere between 0.6 to 0.9 mrem. Having said that, these radiation levels aren't high at all. In fact, if you are flying cross-country, you will be exposed to much higher radiation levels than either of these kinds of x-rays.
The amount of radiation in dental x-rays is so small that its benefits far outweigh any risk of harm. Dental x-rays are vital for us to detect problems in your mouth and jaw that cannot be easily seen.
When dentists ask pregnant women to forego x-rays, it is not because a single dose may cause the baby harm; it's just a precautionary measure to expose you to as little radiation as possible in your lifetime.
To get things into perspective, let us look at a list of ordinary things that exposes us to harmful radiation every day:
Things That Expose You To Radiation
Here is a list of things that expose you to radiation in your everyday life:
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Airport scan: 0.001 mrem.
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A flight from New York to Los Angeles: 4 mrem.
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Natural radiation in the human body: 0.04 mrem.
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Natural radiation from the ground: 21 mrem.
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Smoking 20 cigarettes: 36 mrem.
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Building materials: 7 mrem.
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Eating a banana: 0.01 mrem.
This means that you can expect to be exposed to up to 360 mrem of radiation over the year. This is way far below the fatal levels of 1 million mrem.
So if you skip your dental visits because you are afraid of x-rays, you now know there is no danger. Make an appointment with [[[CLIENTEX:DOCNAME1]] and at Lincoln Center Smiles for your routine dental appointment. Call us at (503) 598-0898 today.
Dentist Tigard, OR | Dental Blog - Lincoln Center Smiles Dr. Saklofsky has created an educational blog as a resource for our patients. If you like an article or the dental blog in general please share it to social media, then call (971) 317-9499 to make an appointment. Lincoln Center Smiles, 10500 SW Greenburg Rd, Suite 3, Portland, OR 97223-1406, (503) 598-0898, sakdental.com, 10/3/2024, Page Keywords: dentist Tigard OR,
A dental visit often consists of having an x-ray. Dental x-rays show hidden cavities, fractured tooth roots, infected dental pulps, or other dental issues that cannot be seen by the naked eye. However, patients being asked to wear lead aprons and pregnant women often recommended not to have x-rays are some points of concern for many people.