{"id":1121,"date":"2020-02-10T14:03:21","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T14:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?p=1121"},"modified":"2020-02-10T14:03:22","modified_gmt":"2020-02-10T14:03:22","slug":"dental-x-rays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/dental-x-rays\/","title":{"rendered":"DENTAL X-RAYS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Here are a few common\nquestions and answers regarding dental radiographs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a dental x ray while I was pregnant. I am worried\nthat my unborn child might have been exposed to the radiation. Can you please\ntell me if there are any risks to my baby from this?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no\ninformation suggesting any risk to an unborn child from dental x-rays received\nby the mother. We were taught in dental school to avoid dental x-rays on\npregnant patients. However, with newer technology the radiation dose to the\nfetus is insignificant. Prudent practice would dictate limiting x-rays on\npregnant women, but there is absolutely no harm in taking x-rays if needed to\ndiagnose a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there residual radiation in a room after a dental\nradiograph has been taken?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

X-rays cease to\nexist when the machine is switched off, much like the light from a light bulb\nwhen it is turned off. No residual radiation remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much\nhas dental x-radiation been studied and how concerned should I be about having\ndental x-rays done? Is there a limit on how many I can have?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We now have very complete information on\npatient radiation doses from dental x-rays. They are among the lowest radiation\ndose exams of any diagnostic radiologic procedure in the healing arts. Current\npractices deliver patient doses from a full-mouth series of intraoral films\n(usually 14-18 films) that are less than what a person receives in a month from\nnatural environmental sources (commonly called background exposure). Doses from\nbitewing or panoramic films are even less. New technology is reducing the doses\nstill further. There is no limit on how many dental x-rays you can have. The\ndecision to have a dental x-ray is based on the benefit of knowing whether or\nnot there is a cavity, crack, or some other abnormality. So the decision to\nhave them is based on what you and your dentist think. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nrecently had some dental x rays and the operator forgot to place the lead apron\non me. Is this a problem?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use of the lead apron to protect the\npatient undergoing dental radiographic examination was recommended some 50\nyears ago, when equipment was crude. This was because x-ray beams were not\nrestricted to the area of clinical interest, beams were not filtered, and x-ray\nfilm was slower, causing radiation exposures 10 to 100 times higher than\nreceived today. With the current technology reducing radiation exposure\nsignificantly, and the beam limited only to the area of interest, there is\nlittle or no measurable difference in whole-body dose whether a lead apron is\nused or not. The lead apron is no longer regarded as essential although some\nconsider it a prudent practice, especially for pregnant and potentially\npregnant females.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any other questions on\ndental x-rays, please e-mail them to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. St. Clair maintains\na private dental practice in Rowley and Newburyport dedicated to health-centered\nfamily dentistry. If there are certain topics you would like to see written\nabout or questions you have please email them to him at jpstclair@stclairdmd.com<\/a>.\nYou can view all previously written columns at www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are a few common questions and answers regarding dental radiographs: I had a dental x ray while I was pregnant. I am worried that my unborn child might have been exposed to the radiation. Can you please tell me if there are any risks to my baby from this? There is no information suggesting any risk to an unborn child from dental x-rays received by the mother. We were taught in dental school to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1121"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1130,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121\/revisions\/1130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}