LOOKING INTO THE TOOTH... I MEAN TRUTH!

It’s a fact that dental diseases plague everyone whether it’s a gum tissue condition or a cavity. Finding and treating problems like these at an early stage can not only save you time, money and suffering, but it may even save your life.

If you’re not sure if you grind or clinch, symptoms indicative of bruxism are listed below:

• Dental x-rays are one of the most important tools a dentist can use to help discover and diagnose diseases of the teeth, mouth and surrounding tissues. An x-ray exam may reveal:
• Decay between the teeth or below existing fillings
• Infections in the bone
• Infections in the teeth
• Abscesses or cysts
• Bony growths
• Impacted teeth
• Developmental abnormalities
• Some types of tumors

Although there is always a risk from x-radiation, even in small amounts, the dental practitioner must weigh the negatives against the positives. To ensure patient safety, many barriers have been put into place. X-ray machines automatically restrict the beam size and reduce dose and radiation scatter. Lead aprons are used to absorb 90 percent of whatever radiation scatter is left and cover vital patient organs.

The average radiation dose per person per year is about 3.6 mSV or miliSieverts. This is from all sources including the air, our food and water intake, the minerals around us, etc . . . The international standard for the Maximum Permissible Dose is 50 mSv per year. This is the maximum dose of radiation that the body is permitted to receive in a period of time with little or no injury.

From a traditional film full-mouth series of x-rays, patients receive .01 mSv of radiation. This is among the lowest radiation dose exams of any diagnostic radiographic procedure. If the office has a digital x-ray imaging system, the additional reduction in radiation is usually around 50 – 80 percent.

The guidelines for X-rays vary from dental office to dental office. It is not uncommon to expect check up x-rays annually and a full-mouth series every 3 – 5 years. According to the American Dental Association, X-rays should be taken in accordance with the patient’s individual health history and needs. The schedule for needing X-rays varies according to age, risk for disease and signs and symptoms.