X-RAY  NEWS GOT YOU CONFUSED??

 IT’S difficult to constantly monitor all the information that’s availalble for patients to read, especially since there are many reports with big claims and little science behind them.

The latest headline grabbing news claims to link dental x-rays with brain tumors.  What you probably don’t know is that the patients interviewed for this “study” were asked to recall all the dental x-rays they’d had since childhood.  In other words, the entire research was based on the patients ability to accurately remember a lifetime of x-rays.  Can you remember the last time you had a full series of x-rays?  Bitewings?  How many?  How often?  Can you begin to see how unreliable the data might be?  They also ignored other potentially important factors, such as tobacco history, diet, occupational exposures, frequency of physician visits, lifestyle, etc.

FYI:  OUR education is science-based, and long term studies don’t support the inflammatory and at times irresponsible reporting that passes as factual news today. 

                                                                                             FIRST, DO NO HARM

                        We subscribe to ALARA: As low as reasonably achievable

This means that we consider many factors before prescribing any dental x-rays.  The amount of radiological exposure a person receives in a full series of dental x-rays is measured at 10 microseiverts.  There are numberous sources of natural radiation in our environment, and a patient receives more radiation on one day at the golf course than the radiation dose of a full series of dental x-rays.  Here's some more dosage information:

One Panorex                                             10 microseiverts

Daily background radiation                       10 microseiverts

Airplane flight NY-LA                              40 microseiverts

Chest X-ray                                             100 microseiverts

Lumbar spine                                          1500 microseiverts

Intravenous pyelogram                          3000 microseiverts

Whole body CT scan                               10,000 microseiverts

Coronary angiogram                               20,000 microseiverts

When researching dental x-rays, it’s important to remember these few things.  It’s not the frequency, but the dosage that matters with radiography.  We always have your best interest in mind and only prescribe x-rays as necessary.  We use x-rays to view areas that Dr. Neal can’t see during the clinical exam.  Decay often starts in these hard to see areas, and it’s less invasive (and expensive) to have a filling done at the earliest stages, before it becomes a BIG problem.

We’d be happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have during your appointment.