Is your child visiting our family dental care Cary IL office for a regular examination? X-rays are an important part of a child’s dental examination to diagnose damage or disease to your child’s teeth. Since x-rays expose your child to radiation, you may be hesitant to consent to x-ray imaging until you fully understand the procedure and its purpose. Our team at Cary Dental Associates has created this blog in order to educate families about the importance of x-rays.
Why X-Rays Are Needed
Before our dentists recommend an x-ray, we will review your child’s health history and complete a clinical examination. During an oral examination, there are a lot of parts of your child’s mouth that we are unable to see, like under the gums and inside the teeth. According to the American Dental Association, there are many reasons why dental x-rays help dentists:
- Determine if dental anomalies are present
- Locate cavities between and on teeth
- Evaluate injuries to the teeth after trauma
- Determine the cause of oral swelling
- Determine the impact of teeth that may be un-erupted
- Visualize teeth that are malposed or impacted
X-Ray Safety
Because x-rays expose children to radiation, we find that parents visiting our family dental care Cary IL office are concerned about the risk of conditions such as cancer. According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the amount of radiation that is received during a dental x-ray is extremely small. Today, x-ray equipment allows dentists to focus the x-ray beam on the exact area of interest to reduce radiation exposure. It’s important that children wear the protective equipment like the lead body apron and shield to keep them safe during their procedure.
Do you have a question about x-rays? Call our family dental care Cary IL office today at (847) 516-1100. Our office uses modern digital x-ray equipment which allows us to keep radiation exposure extremely low.
