Are dental X-rays dangerous?

More and more patients are aware about the impact of Xrays’ radiations on our body.

So, are X-rays really needed? How often should I have X-rays taken? How can it affect my safety?

First of all, it is important to understand that an exposure to any radiation can be dangerous. X-rays are electromagnetic radiations. They can affect our health if they are used in an abusive practice.

We are surrounded by radiations: sun’s radiations, TV’s radiations, cosmic’s radiations, radio waves, terrestrial’s radiations, tobacco…

Radiations are measured in Sievert (S) and most of the time we talk about micro Sievert.

Therefore, improvements of X-ray devices makes them less dangerous. X-ray equipment, are then sending very light levels of radiations. Make sure that your dentist uses a collimated X-ray machine with digital X-ray, which means less radiations and less risks of radiation scattering.

We consider that the best amount of radiography for our patient is around 1 panoramic X-ray every 3 years and 2 bitewings X-rays every year.