Are Digital Dental X-Rays Safe For Children?
By Nannette Benedict | Published on December 14, 2011 | 0 Comments
When it comes to dental x-rays, there has been some controversy among parent groups in recent years. Dr. Nannette Benedict, D.D.S., a children’s dentist in Santa Cruz, California, says she understands the fears that many parents have. However, she believes that erroneous information is leading some people to believe things about dental x-rays that are not true.
The Santa Cruz children’s dentist starts off by explaining the difference between traditional dental x-rays and today’s digital dental x-rays. A good portion of the confusion that surrounds dental x-rays comes from the fact that people are confusing the traditional types of x-rays, which are no longer in used at practices like Dr. Benedict’s, right alongside digital x-rays.
Dr. Benedict says that the digital dental x-rays that every children’s dentist in Santa Cruz should be using have just 1/8th the amount of radiation that traditional x-rays had. Today’s digital x-rays are very, very safe for children and adults of all ages. Children today are growing up in a world where they are exposed to far less radiation at the dentist’s office than their parents or grandparents. If everyone knew just how safe today’s digital dental x-rays were when compared to the traditional x-ray equipment dentists used in the past, there would be very little debate over how frequently children should be exposed to this equipment.
Another factor that complicates the debate over dental x-rays has to do with cone beam x-rays. The latest x-ray equipment that some dental providers are using on adult patients is called the Cone Beam CT. This x-ray equipment is used mostly for wisdom teeth, and it does emit more radiation than most parents would feel comfortable with for their children. Although the Cone Beam CT is digital, it is not the same thing as the digital x-ray equipment that general dentists are using, and Dr. Benedict cautions people against thinking that the facts they hear about Cone Beam CT imaging also apply to basic digital x-rays.
The regular digital x-ray equipment that a children’s dentist in Santa Cruz uses with pediatric patients emits far, far less radiation than the Cone Beam CT or traditional non-digital x-ray equipment. The images that Dr. Benedict gets with this equipment are imperative for measuring the growth and development of children’s teeth.
Dr. Benedict encourages parents to get involved and ask plenty of questions of their dental providers. However, she also cautions parents to avoid worrying about the effect of radiation from x-ray equipment, since today’s equipment emits far less radiation than ever before.
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