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Your dentist can only learn a certain amount by looking directly at the teeth in your mouth. About 60% of your tooth is hidden below the gum line, and is only visible using by taking an X-ray. A dental X-ray is taken to assess and monitor your teeth, jaw bone structure and gums to plan treatments. It will also show if there are any problems hidden from view.
A dental X-ray is painless. It is a type of photograph, howeve camera. We will explain to you how the information gained will help improve your diagnosis or treatment.
Because the risk from a dental X-ray to a developing baby is negligible, we will not ask questions about pregnancy.
We are registered with the EPA and HIQA. Our x-ray equipment is well maintained and regularly checked by appropriately qualified staff. This ensures that the amount of radiation we use is kept as low as possible to get the pictures we need.
Our main concern is to ensure that when you have an X-ray , the benefits from making a diagnosis or providing the correct treatment, far outweigh the very low negligible risk involved with the X-ray itself. We make sure that this is the case before you have an X-ray.
We are all exposed to a small amount of natural background radiation every day of our lives. This radiation comes from our environment, the air we breathe, food we eat and even from outer space. X-ray machines use a small amount of radiation to generate “pictures” we need for your diagnosis and treatment and to monitor your progress.
Each dental X-ray gives a small additional amount of radiation on top of natural background. The X-ray you will have for diagnostic purposes carries a very low negligible risk.
Please feel free to ask the Dentist if you have any further questions or concerns. You can refuse to have the X-ray taken if you feel you do not have sufficient information.
As part of your Dental assessment or treatment we may need to take X-rays. The amount of radiation from a dental X-ray is about the same as one of two days of natural radiation that we are all exposed to as part of our daily life.