Digital radiography is one of the most important new advances that dentistry has seen in quite some time. We have adapted to digital media almost at its inception. Amongst the benefits are: immediate viewing of the digital image, easy storage for comparison, the ability to enhance the image, better communication between dental practitioners (when you can e-mail an X-ray, and LOWER radiation. In some cases, up to 80 percent lower compared to film-based systems. This is a pretty big deal. Radiation was always a very sensitive subject. Many people are still suspicious of its side effect.
Here is some information that has come out from research:
According to the American Dental Association, the radiation you receive is minimal. Using a millisievert (mSv) scale scientist measured amount of radiation in dental x-rays
– Bitewing X-rays – 0.038
– Full mouth X-ray – 0.150
Then compared them to amounts received in medicine and real life:
– Lower Gastrointestinal Tract – 4.060
– Chest x-ray – .080
– Radiation from space in Denver Co. – 0.510 (per year)
– Avg. natural radiation in the US (per year) – 3.00
So essentially, you get about three and a half times the radiation from space (if you live in Denver) than you do from a full mouth X-ray.