NE Calgary Dentists at Discover Dental in Falconridge want to explain the importance x-rays play in maintaining dental health. For some of us it seems easy to decline x-rays when we go to the dentist. We just want them to ‘look’ at the sore tooth, inflamed gum, or annoying sore on the inside of our cheek. Well when you think about it, we’d never get away with that if we went to a medical doctor and asked them to just ‘look’ at our symptoms. We often agree to blood tests and other forms of diagnosing from our medical doctor – so why are we so reluctant to agree to dental x-rays?
Some people use the excuse that dental x-rays emit high amounts of radiation. That just isn’t true. Most progressive dental offices in Calgary take digital x-rays – technology that reduces the amount of radiation that traditional x-rays emit by up to 90%. To explain it in terms of sun exposure – one full day in the sun equates to roughly twenty dental x-rays. That’s an awful lot of x-rays, as the average adult has just four x-rays taken on an annual basis – so one day in the sun is the same as five years’ worth of dental x-rays – so pretty minimal exposure to radiation per x-ray.
Now that we’ve explained just how safe dental x-rays are – let’s go on to share the many benefits there are to having routine x-rays taken by your dental provider. Your NE Calgary Dentist will recommend dental x-rays so that tissue that is not visible to the eye can be viewed and examined for health. Teeth are supported by bone – but bone is not visible to your dentist during a routine check-up exam – so an x-ray is taken to make sure that bone and other dental tissues below the gum level are healthy. Interproximal areas – or areas in-between teeth – are also not visible to the dentist, especially in adult patients when teeth are larger and tend to butt up against one another. Taking an x-ray allows your Calgary Dentist to view the area in-between teeth and will show any areas when decay is starting. Being able to detect dental decay in its early stages will help avoid more involved and costly treatment down the road – so the benefit of early detection far outweighs the cost of the x-ray.
Dental x-rays are used to diagnose dental abscesses, tumours, abnormal jaw growth, and normal eruption of adult teeth in young patients. By refusing dental x-rays you are limiting your dentist’s ability to make a full and accurate diagnosis. Calgary Dentists at Discover Dental understand patients’ concerns regarding the need for dental x-rays and welcome your questions to discuss the many advantages x-rays offer. Discover Dental is welcoming new patients and is happy to address any concerns you may have regarding your dental health. Call today 403.285.0222