When you think of a visit to the dentist for your child, you might just think of a checkup and cleaning. However, a thorough appointment will sometimes involve taking an x-ray of your child’s teeth. Dental x-rays are used for the purpose of taking images of the teeth and bones, but they can seem foreign and a little scary, especially to children. Fortunately, dental x-rays–and digital x-rays especially–are not only safe, they have important benefits.
An x-ray can seem like a scary thing, especially for a child. However, x-rays are an important part of dental health, and periodically necessary to your child’s checkup. Dental x-rays are used to take pictures of the teeth, gums, and bones. An x-ray is necessary for us to see the tooth in a way that we can’t through simple visual inspection. They help us find cavities, check on gum health, and make sure that your child’s teeth and jaws are developing normally. For this reason, x-rays are crucial for dealing with dental health issues early on. Childhood is an extremely important time for the development of your child’s teeth, gums, and bones, and it can actually set the precedent for their dental health as adults. That’s why it’s important to diagnose and correct any issues as soon as they arise.
Don’t worry– we take measures to make sure that a dental x-ray is completely safe and comfortable for your child. Here at our office, we use digital x-rays, which are a great new alternative to traditional film x-rays. There are two major benefits of digital x-rays: firstly, they use less radiation than traditional film x-rays, and secondly, they provide high-quality images that we can easily edit and save.
Every parent worries about the safety of their child during procedures like x-rays, but dental x-rays are actually extremely safe. Traditional x-rays have been shown in studies to produce only a tiny amount of radiation, and digital x-rays are even safer, exposing the patient to 90% less radiation. We also use lead aprons during imaging to protect your child’s body from any radiation at all. Taking the x-rays does not take long, and we make sure your child is comfortable and feels safe.
Traditional x-rays use film to capture images of the teeth, and have the same shortcomings of film cameras. The image takes longer to develop, is not always high-quality, and must be scanned into a computer. Digital x-rays have all the technological benefits of a digital camera. They instantly produce high-quality digital images of your child’s teeth that we can manipulate in our computer system. Immediately, the images are available on the screen, and we can zoom in or change the exposure to reveal even the smallest problem. Another added bonus is that we can easily save the images to your electronic patient file. With digital technology, there is no risk of losing your child’s dental records.
When your child comes in for his digital x-ray, we’ll explain everything that we’re doing in kid-friendly terms. They might even enjoy seeing the pictures of their teeth up on the screen!