What's your thought & knowledge on this topic? I sometimes think dental x-rays are overused & can increase risk of cancers.

I’ll ask my daughter who was an X-ray tech. and is now a radiation therapist. All I know is she still gets dental X-rays.

I’ve been getting them once a year for years. I’m not worried about it.

Let the dentist dig around in your mouth then…LOL

Most dental x-rays are digital now. In my office the exposure time is 1/60th of a second. You get more radiation walking to your truck than a dental x-ray.
There are several criteria for taking pics. If you have a bunch of fillings in your mouth (especially in between teeth) you get bitewings once a year. If you have very few filling, you get bitewings every 2 years.
A panoramic x-ray (around your head) every 5 years.
Teeth that have had root canals get a pic once a year. New patients get a panoramic, bitewings and single pics of root canal teeth.
We cannot detect decay between teeth without bitewings. Root canal teeth are dead and generally dont hurt but, we need to see that a giant, face-eating abscess isn't forming at the root tip of a failed root canal.
I realize people don't like X-rays but, they are important.
If a patient comes in my office declining proper treatment, we dismiss them. The dental office is not like Burger King, you don't get it the way you want it. You get it the way it's supposed to be done.
If i don't do my job properly, it's called "benevolent neglect" , then my bum is over a barrel.

Maybe I'm a little overfearful in this regard, but it's been a rough winter in that I am fighting thyroid cancer that was diagnosed in November. It's very possible (if not likely) it wasn't caused by dental xrays, but it is in the back of my mind. I have a dental appt this week & I know they are going to push xrays. Maybe they will expel me if I don't comply. Even if they do serve some benefit, it seems some dentists overprescribe expensive xrays. I have heard some machines don't emit the radiation they used to, but damage could already have been done when I was a kid. Online research can be misleading, but from what I read it seems debatable whether the benefits outweigh the cons. I have a co-worker with brain cancer. I doubt he got it from xrays, but one never knows.

I went to two different dentists asking for a simple tooth cleaning. They insisted on X-rays even though I was clear that I could only afford a cleaning. The first place wanted $3200 as they found a dreadful gum disease and refused to clean them. The second dentist wanted $2800 to crown cracked teeth that the first dentist didn't see. The first dentist didn't see the cracked teeth that needed crowned. lol They reluctantly cleaned them. They would prefer to squeeze thousands out of you instead of $100.

iowayote I have a question. Son kept complaining about a sore in his mouth. Went to the local doc and he had to google it on his iPhone. He told my son doctors don’t study anything about the mouth in school or at least not much. I wasn’t there so I don’t want to put words in his mouth. I found that kinda weird. I would think the mouth would be covered in med school like any other part of the body. If that’s true why? Did a couple docs flip a coin 300 years ago and the winner get to pick what he didn’t want to mess with. Lol

iowayote is spot on

I have been an xray tech since 2004 and can tell you the amount of xrays a normal person gets on their mouth is a small fraction of the radiation you receive in normal life.

Can xrays cause thyroid cancer? You bet but more likely in a xray tech doing fluoro imaging daily with no protection.

Pawnee I can't speak for all dentists but I can tell you mine thoroughly checks my gums, inside of lips and tongue for any signs of abnormality EVERY visit

ex-dentist here. I would not consider an initial exam complete without a series of X-rays and periodontal probing/charting and soft tissue examination with a good medical history recorded. Now once you are an established patient with an ongoing history then you can skip the every 6 month xrays if you and not having any recent problems. The bite wing once every two years at least, with no ongoing problems. Oh if you are a teenager that would be every year no matter what. Just my opinion. Of course every case is different. The danger they present is so minimal now a days that it is not a concern for the normal person.......jk

My daughter-in-law is a dental assistant who takes xrays. I was surprised when she told me they don't have a dosimeter program.

M.D.'s do learn about mouths, just not as much as a dentist. Just like any other specialty. Ex: Ophthalmologist, cardiologist, podiatrist, etc. Schools just figure there is too much info to take in when there is a specialist on every corner (dentists)




Gary, the reason they didn't want to clean them is exactly the reason i stated earlier. They know that the "cleaning" you got isn't what you need. You need periodontal therapy. That dentist is trying to avoid having you come to him in a year when your teeth start falling out saying "I just had them cleaned last year."

A good comparison that we can all understand: Cleanin your trapping vechile (lol) with a garden hose or cleanin it with a 2000psi pressure washer with soap.

I wish I could get in to see a dentist here, there's a terrible shortage. Even emergency care can be months out. Is that a national issue or something unique to Maine?

every other year , wearing the lead apron the risk to the patient is very low compared to a missed cavity that turns into an abscess or infection.

in addition oral inflammation leads to the blood clotting and makes for greater risk of heart attack and stroke.

if your looking at risk factors , stop chewing Tabaco , smoking , vaping , drinking pop/soda , drinking alcohol in quantity , when you have all that licked and you are your ideal weight all your blood tests come back perfect , then maybe worry about the dental xrays

There are more dentists in Fairbanks than gas stations. Doctors we are short on!

Chewing tobacco wears away teeth and causes cancer in the mouth. Smokers frequently have cancer in their airways. Both are worse than modern X-rays.

I have shied away from dentists since one dentist I went to told me my bite was irregular and I needed an occlusal adjustment done to correct my bite. He ground on my teeth to correct it and charged me plenty over a period of several appointments.
Since then when eating I often bite the corner of my mouth. It bleeds and swells making me eat with the opposite side until it heals. This had never happened prior to this procedure.

I’m sure he ate better after your procedure. Lol

Oh Yeh!

I've been looking for the right excuse to move back. A sensitive molar might be it.

On another note, do any of you guys live in fear of getting your lips ripped off while sitting in the chair? Or maybe strangling when that little suction hose ain't doin' the job? Dislocated jaw? Just stuff that crosses my mind when I'm sitting there.