Information for our Patients

Regarding Dental X-rays

82% of an average person’s exposure to radiation comes from the environment, that is: the earth’s soil, water and air; the sun; and cosmic rays. This is called "background" radiation. Full mouth dental x-rays at this office, consisting of a panorex and four bitewing x-rays, have the same radiation exposure as you would receive in just about one day of normal background radiation. By comparison, a CAT Scan (CT) of the chest is the same as 3.6 years of normal background radiation and a mammogram is the same as one whole year of normal background radiation.

Therefore a patient receiving 4 bitewing x-rays per year and a panorex every 4 years for 90 years would still be receiving less than a third of the radiation during those 90 years than from just one mammogram and less than one tenth as much as from one CT of the chest !

By using a digital panorex and our new digital dental x-rays, we keep your radiation exposure to an absolute minimum.

Radiation Exposure equivalents:

1 lumbar spine x-ray = 700 dental x-rays

1 mammogram = 1200 dental x-rays

1 chest CT = 4000 dental x-rays