The benefits of dental X-rays are huge.
Radiographs are a very important part of dentistry. Your teeth are embedded in your jaw, so without X-rays we can only see half the story.
An image is formed by passing X-rays through an object (e.g. your tooth) onto a plate which is then immediately transmitted into the computer.
The digital image provides essential information needed to help diagnose any problem or detect hidden decay before it causes problems.
Digital X-rays emit minimal radiation (a fraction of standard X-rays that are projected onto film), are very accurate in the images they can capture, are quick, and are therefore an excellent diagnostic tool.
Understanding Radiation Exposure
As a comparison, the amount of radiation that you are exposed to from a single digital X-ray taken in the surgery is equivalent to:
An air flight from Sydney to Melbourne
OR
The background radiation we absorb in half a day by simply living in Sydney
OR
The amount of radiation you absorb if you were to eat 36 bananas!
As you can see, the radiation we get from digital dental X-rays is negligible.
We absorb more radiation just by “living” than we do having an X-ray taken of our teeth.
But the benefits of dental X-rays are huge.
With X-rays we can see a cavity well before you may feel it — without an X-ray, it could progress (even painlessly), until the tooth becomes infected and requires either root canal therapy or extraction.
That’s a heavy price to pay — the X-ray is well worth it.
Speak to us if you have any concerns about digital x-rays
