Things You Need To Know About Dental X-Rays

Dental x-rays are among the most common dental procedures. The reason for x-rays being so common is that these tests provide dentists with necessary information about the state of dental health of the patient. Furthermore, you need to get your x-rays test done if you want your dentist to know what lies under your gums. Here, the most common question is about the safety of dental x-rays because of the fact that it involves radiation.

What are dental x-rays?

Dental x-rays are basically the images which are taken to reveal the hidden anatomy of teeth and enamel under the cover of gums. There are two types of dental x-rays. One involves film, and another involves digital imaging. Since there are a lot of angles through which the images can be maneuvered using digital way, digital imaging naturally has an edge over the x-rays film.

Dental x-rays can be intraoral as well extraoral. Extraoral x-rays provide details of outside part of the dental structure. On the other hand, intraoral x-rays give detailed view of the inside area of oral cavity, making is easier for the dentists to identify certain problems and developments in the mouth.

How often one needs to get x-rays?

X-rays are meant to diagnose dental problems. Therefore, dentists suggest x-rays when they suspect about existence of any problem. However, dentists avoid suggesting unnecessary x-rays because these tests involve firing of radiation. If you have no dental issue and your dentist considers your dental health satisfactory, you may be suggested to get x-ray test of you done once in 24 to 36 months. Thus, the number of tests, being run in specific time duration, depends upon the health status of the patient. Having that said, it is very important to get the x-rays test done on time because it can really help in getting the problems identified on time. You wouldn’t really want such problems to go undiagnosed.

Amount of radiation you would be exposed against

One factor due to which dental-rays haven’t been considered very safe in the past is the amount of radiation. The x-rays which involve printing on film usually aim at entire skull, and even the upper part of the body. This open exposure is always thought to be very dangerous. However, the amount of radiation with digital x-rays is drastically lower than the conventional x-rays. The matter of fact is that the amount of radiation released by digital x-rays is even lower than what we receive on daily basis from sun and the technical devices which emit or receive radiation.