You more than likely have heard that exposure to any form of radiation is harmful for human beings. The truth is that radiation can affect the body in a number of ways – but it is also dependent on how much radiation you are being exposed to. In small amounts, radiation has been used in medicine to detect and treat conditions from hyperthyroidism to cancer. Radiation can be found in many medical and dental tools, and as we know X-rays are one.  But did you know that we are exposed to radiation on a daily basis?! Here are some interesting facts that you might not have known about:

• Consuming 15 bananas is the equivalent to getting 2 digital x-rays taken.
• Radiation is emitted from watches, TV sets and computers.
• Today’s x-rays machines are more efficient and safer to use. Newer sensor-based machines use about a tenth the amount of radiation that the traditional film-based machines did.
• If you take a flight from Manchester, UK to Paris, France you are being exposed to radiation in the amount of one digital dental x-ray.
• Eating 5 Brazil nuts is the same as one dental x-ray.

These facts should not worry you, but help to allow you to realize the radiation in the form of dental x-rays is a very small percentage of the overall radiation exposure. It is important to let your dentist take checkup x-rays regularly. These images show your dentist what your bone, teeth and supporting tissues look like. It also helps them to find any oral health issues, cavities, or infections that would be otherwise unknown.

We usually do a full set of X-rays every 5-10 years on our patients and 15% of the time we find evidence of a tooth that is infected. We didn’t know about it. The patient didn’t know about it.

They are just walking around with infection in their head and all of the stroke, cardiovascular accident and secondary infection risks all the while!!!

If you have any questions regarding the importance of dental X-rays Dr. Dillon will be able to answer all of your questions. If you or a family member have not had a cleaning, checkup, or x-rays taken recently, call our office today at 610-525-5497 to set up an appointment!