Dental X- Rays
- Thread starter Acylum
- Start date
You go to Whatley too? At least he has good reading material
Strongly disagree with this. Get them yearly, they aren’t just for cavities they can detect a host of other things such as bone loss, small cavities that are hard to detect between teeth, infections and even cancer.
Digital X-rays have an incredibly small amount of radiation. The X-rays are a massive source of preventative oral health
Interesting because my dentist went the opposite direction. Used to be a handheld device the hygienist would take 4 pictures and the last time I had them it was a device I stood at for maybe 5 seconds.
If you’re an adult with healthy gums and teeth the ADA recommends every 18 to 36 months. So I guess they disagree with you.
I read an article that said there seemed to be a relationship of oral bacteria and infections to dementia. Whether that is true or not, it has made me more aware of oral health.
Fear of the dentist is a very real thing. I strongly recommend that you go only for preventive reasons and to help establish both a baseline and a standard of care. Waiting till you have a problem can be a huge issue with oral help and without having an established relationship with a dentist you could be waiting while things get worse.
Having a problem with your oral health can actually have major impacts on other systems of your body as well.
And that’s why you ask your dentist if everything is inline for that time period. You’re more than welcome to ask your dentist if you can push that timetable out and have them explain their reasoning behind it.
Personally I would never wait that long as those X-rays can catch things before they become an issue that a regular checkup isn’t going to notice.
due to hippa i cannot say
Only joking.
It is hard dealing with services who's income is very reliant on their customers needing to trust opinions. Doctors, Denstists, Mechanics, Plumbers, etc... business model is such that they need problems to fix, and the everyday person often doesn't know if those recommended problems truly need fixed or if they're being taken advantage of. Not saying it's bad, just the way it is. We've all certainly had mechanics try to up-sell us on services we don't need. While I think people in the medical industry are much less likely to do that than a mechanic, it's certainly possible.
Personal anecdote: When I was young, I had 4 adult molars pulled because I my adult teeth grew too early and my mouth didn't have room. Then in high school, we did the typical trip to the oral surgeon to determine if I needed my wisdom teeth out (since that is a thing it seems almost everyone does just by default). Oral surgeon said "yep, lets cut those babies out, and we scheduled an appointment". However, my mom had some background in the medical field, and looking at the x-rays, the wisdom teeth appeared to be perfectly straight, so she wondered why they needed to come out. She then took me to our family dentist to get his opinion. He said there was no reason to cut them out. Let them grow in and see what happens. If they give me problems, just have them removed then. Since I was missing adult molars, I should have had room for them. I'm now 37 and have had zero issues with my wisdom teeth.
Why did the oral surgeon tell me I needed to undergo a pretty painful and expensive procedure? I'm actually still resentful about it to this day, although I have had nothing but good experiences with Dentists since then.
No idea, the dental practice is much different then other areas of medicine and while I have a lot of friends that are dentists I know very little about their processes.
I always encourage people to get a second opinion before having any procedure done to avoid that very issue you’re taking about. Some people (especially some surgeons) will just want to cut if they know their is minimal risk and it will have a good outcome, even if their are other options.
It’s also possible that the surgeon in this instance is pulling from their experience and are anticipating things getting worse (they obviously can’t tell the future) and are looking to get it done while people are able and before their is a complication.
Oral X-rays aren’t a procedure though, it’s imagining that can help with preventative care. If it was any type of actual procedure I would agree with the hesitation, or if you had to pay out of pocket for it if it wasn’t covered.
I am sure this is what my dentist does. Every visit, I think they do like a 1/4 set. Since insurance will cover it, they do it whether needed or not. So I end up with a new full set every two years.
Heck yeah the fear is real. I’d get so worked up about the upcoming appointment, I’d make my self to the point of throwing up. I even fought him once to get out of the chair. The smell, the sound of drill, the smoke while they drilled on your teeth, not to mention my dentist looked like Willy Wonka’s dad with a mouthful of silver teeth just gave me nightmares!
My dentist now is a gal that went to high school with my oldest son (27 years old).
Meh. I didn't go for around 12 years after I graduated college because I never had issues.
I went about three years ago and they did their cleaning/xrays/etc. and told me everything looked good. I haven't been back since. I've never had a single cavity, just braces and wisdom teeth removal in HS.
I don't really plan on going back unless something pops up. My teeth aren't in poor condition. Nobody would ever know I don't go.
You do you but as a reminder once something pops up that means their is an actual problem that needs to be addressed and the longer it takes to get into a dentist without an established one the worse it’s going to get.
By not going regularly you miss the opportunity of having preventive care that could prevent a small issue from becoming a major one.
It’s an extreme example but that’s like saying your last physical and blood work were great so you’re not going to go in to get your yearly physical unless their is an issue, this ends up with me hovering over your face while you are completely confused what just happened letting you know you just had a cardiac event and were taking you to do emergency surgery.
