Digital X-Rays – Cleveland, OH
Safe and Informative Screenings for the Whole Family
Many dental practices have adopted the custom of taking routine X-Rays of their patients’ mouths. That is also true of our team at Kirlough Family Dentistry. We do so because of the many benefits X-Rays offer as a diagnostic tool. However, some patients may hesitate to get X-Rays taken because they worry that the scanning process might not be safe. On this page, we talk about both the advantages of X-Rays and how you can be sure that they will not harm you.
Why Choose Kirlough Family Dentistry for Digital X-Rays?
- Your safety is a top priority
- Quick and comfortable process
- Expert analysis of images
Benefits of Digital X-Rays
Digital X-rays accomplish much. Here are just a few of their benefits:
- Clear, precise images. The images produced by digital X-Rays provide a high level of detail, which enables your dentist in Middleburg heights to pinpoint any potential oral health issues. What issues? X-rays help us to spot developmental problems in the jaw, cavities, wisdom teeth, infections, and more!
- Fast, comfortable scanning process. The machine is designed to capture high-quality images in the blink of an eye. Those images are instantly accessible on our computer system so we can provide you with quick feedback about the state of your teeth.
- Less environmental impact. Developing traditional X-Rays requires the use of toxic chemicals. Digital X-rays are much more eco-friendly.
- Minimal radiation. Digital X-Rays produce about 90 percent less radiation than their traditional counterparts.
We just mentioned that digital X-Rays produce minimal radiation, but they do still produce some radiation. That leads many patients to wonder… are digital X-Rays really safe?
Are They Really Safe?
To answer the question of whether digital X-Rays are safe, let’s begin by comparing the amount of radiation they produce to other sources of radiation you may encounter in your everyday life. A full series of digital mouth X-rays exposes you to about 0.09 mSv of radiation. Other common sources of radiation produce much higher doses.
- An average individual is exposed to 0.4 mSv of radiation each year through their food and water.
- Individuals living at sea level get an average annual dose of 0.3 mSv of radiation each year, while individuals at high altitude get an annual dose of about 0.8 mSv.
- The maximum annual dose of radiation permitted for radiation workers in the U.S. is 50 mSv.
What can we conclude from the foregoing information? Simply put, the radiation exposure from dental X-rays is quite minimal, and the likelihood of suffering harm from them is next to nothing. Digital dental X-rays are even considered safe for young children and pregnant women.
Would you like to learn more about digital X-Rays or the other advanced technology we use in our office? Get in touch with Kirlough Family Dentistry today.