When you visit us for a dental exam, we will do a physical exam of your teeth to check for cavities, cancer, or any other problem. If we suspect a cavity or cancer, we will take an X-ray of your mouth to check the damage's extent. Dental X-rays aid in the early detection of dental problems. Early detection and treatment of a dental problem will save you the cost and discomfort of dealing with its severity in the future. Among the problems that are visible through dental X-rays include cavities and infections.
Cavities and Infections
Dental X-rays use low-level radiation to capture the interior of your teeth and soft tissues. This helps us spot problems such as tooth decay, impacted teeth, and gum infections. In an X-ray, cavities will be visible as dark areas in your tooth. Spotting these cavities early before they spread to the pulp of your teeth will save your natural teeth. Dental X-rays also help detect infections, cysts, tumors, and abcesses and hence early treatment before becoming severe.
How Often You Need a Dental X-Ray
Usually, one dental X-ray per year is enough. However, depending on your dental health and history, we may recommend more than one X-ray. If you are a new patient, we will take your X-ray to get a clear picture of your dental health, especially if you do not have any X-rays from your former specialist. Your age may also affect how often we will take your X-rays with children requiring more X-rays than adults to track their teeth development. Finally, if you have an oral disease or a history of gum disease, we may need to take more X-rays to monitor your health and prevent reoccurrence. If we detect cavities or infections, we will discuss the treatment options depending on the extent of damage and schedule your treatment. For more details on dental X-rays, contact our office today.
Dentist DC • Neil Starr, DDS, PC • Dental Blog Dr. Starr is offering this educational blog as a resource to our patients. Our hope is hope that our blog will cover subjects that you may be interested in. Neil L. Starr, DDS, PC, 1234 19th St NW #306, Washington, DC 20036 + (202) 293-7177 + starrteeth.com + 6/6/2023 + Related Terms: dental implants DC +