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Soft Touch Dentistry
1214 Paragon Lane O'Fallon, Illinois 62269
(618) 622 - 5050
| Sarah Thompson DMD |
| Experience Soft Touch Dental Bonding |
| Soft Touch Dentistry 1214 Paragon Drive O'Fallon, IL 62269 (618) 622-5050 |
| Dental X-Rays O'Fallon, Illinois Question: Just how much radiation or harm is there in a dental x-ray? Since the 2011 nuclear plant meltdown in Japan, just the mention of the word x-ray or radiation sparks up an unpleasant image for many people. We have the tendency to automatically relate this topic to cancer, birth defects, reproductive sterility, and even physical mutations. While it's true that exposure to extremely high levels of radiation can cause many of these horrific side-effects, what most of us forget to realize, is that very low levels of radiation are not only safe, but can have enormous medical benefits. In diagnosing everything from brain tumors to colon cancer to spinal injuries to bone fractures to lung injuries to potentially fatal dental abscesses to many other pathological conditions, x-rays can be LIFE SAVING. X-rays in the practice of dentistry are used to routinely diagnose and treat an unlimited number of conditions that could not be properly diagnosed without them. X-rays are really energy in the form of waves, just like visible light. Actually, the main difference between x-rays and visible light is that x-rays have enough energy to go through the body and visible light usually does not. Therefore, x-rays can take pictures of the inside of the body and light can only take pictures of the outside of the body. Before we talk about the amount of radiation in clinical x-rays, let's make sure that we have some way to quantify these radiation doses. A unit of measurement called a "rem" is used to measure a radiation dose. It is a large unit, just like a kilometer is a large unit of length. Because of this, we usually use a unit called a millirem (mrem). It is much like measuring in centimeters or in-fact, millimeters, instead of kilometers. One thousand mrem is equal to one rem. Every one of us are exposed to about 1 mrem of radiation each and every day. This level of radiation is extremely low and comes from natural sources such as sunlight, soil, building, etc. The average person gets approximately 365 mrem every year from outside, background sources alone. Some examples of everyday radiation that you may not realize you are exposed to include living in a brick house (about 10 mrem per year), cooking with natural gas (about 10 mrem per year), and sleeping next to someone else (about 2 mrem per year). All of us have small amounts of naturally occuring radioactive materials in our bodies. Up until about the last 9 years, conventional dental x-ray film systems have provided the lowest amount of radiation of any clinical procedure known in modern medicine. Since the turn of the century, dentistry has seen the advancement of even better technology ........... DIGITAL X-RAYS. Digital x-rays produce 80-90% less radiation than the standard, conventional dental x-ray film system. Here at Soft Touch Dentistry, we ONLY USE DIGITAL X-RAYS The following figures for comparison were taken from RADIATION, a book by the radiologist, Dr. Martin Ecker and the sceince writer, Norton Bramesco. We have composed three charts below, to give some perspective on dental x-ray exposure. HIGH DOSE GROUP of Clinical X-Ray Procedures mrem MEDIUM DOSE GROUP of Clinical X-Ray Procedures mrem LOW DOSE GROUP of Clinical X-Ray Procedures mrem |
| At Soft Touch Dentistry, we ONLY use digital x-ray technology! |
(618) 622 - 5050
| Sarah Thompson DMD |
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| References and Further Reading: The following are good sources of additional information on this topic. You can click on the following titles to be connected to the actual website to view these articles: Radiation Exposure During Imaging Exams, Mayo Clinic , Patient Education Article. Radiation: Risks and Realities, United States Environmental Protection Agency. Ionizing Radiation: Fact Book, United States Environmental Protection Agency. Radioactivity in Nature. The Health Physics Society, University Of Michigan. American Dental Association Council on Scientific Affairs, JADA, Vol. 137. |