Taking dental x-rays is, for a lot of people, a serious concern. We have learned throughout the years that x-rays essentially expose us to radiation. Radiation has been known to cause cancer, thus the significant concerns that some people have about being exposed to unnecessary x-rays.
However, dental x-rays are often important to be able to determine the condition of the teeth and check on other issues that can’t be seen by a visual examination.
The radiation that a patient is generally exposed to from a dental x-ray is considered extremely low. That is with traditional dental x-ray machines. Today, non-film digital x-rays are available and they can reduce the amount of radiation that a person is exposed to by another 90%.
A traditional chest CAT scan, or CT-scan, will expose a patient to nearly 3,000 times the amount of radiation that they will be exposed to in the process of getting a digital dental x-ray. A mammogram will have approximately 60 times as much radiation as a digital dental x-ray.
If you want an interesting and odd fact about dental x-rays, consider this: if you ate 50 bananas, you would be exposed to approximately the same amount of radiation as what you would get from a digital dental x-ray.
Don’t let your concerns about radiation and dental x-rays cause you to avoid visiting the dentist. It is better to have a dental x-ray done now than to have serious issues arise that could result in a root canal, loss of teeth, and other serious issues. You are completely safe when you are exposed to dental x-rays.