By far, the best thing you can do for your dental health is to focus on prevention. Your teeth are incredibly strong and have the potential to last a lifetime with minimal dental work – if you practice preventative care!Along with good oral hygiene habits at home, regular checkups and routine X-rays are essential for finding problems in their beginning stages and preventing them from progressing. However, it’s quite common to wonder why a dentist in Westminster needs X-rays and how patients benefit from them. Keep reading to find out what X-rays reveal about your oral health and how often they need to be taken!
What Problems Can a Dentist Find With X-Rays?
- Pathology and Disease– Inside your jaws and around the roots of your teeth, infections, cysts, bone defects, and lesions can develop. If not detected early enough, these issues can progress and lead to serious damage to the teeth and jaws.
- Cavities– Many people assume they would know if they had a cavity because it would hurt, but that’s only true in some cases. Oftentimes, cavities don’t cause pain until they’re fairly large and have gotten closer to the nerve in the center of the tooth. But at this stage, more extensive dental work needs be done (e.g. a root canal and crown). With annual bitewing X-rays at a checkup, a dentist can spot cavities when they’re relatively small and before they start hurting.
- Gum Health– Your gum tissue covers the jawbone that supports your teeth and keeps them strong and stable. The healthier your jawbone is, the more support your teeth have, and the only way to evaluate that is to periodically take an X-ray. If there are problems, a dentist can recommend gum disease therapy to preserve the remaining jawbone.
How Often Do You Need X-Rays?
At a first appointment, newdental patients typically get what’s called a full-mouth series of X-rays that show detailed images of the root and crown of every tooth. Alternatively, they may get a panoramic X-ray which shows an overview of each tooth along with the jaws, sinuses, TMJ, and more (the type of X-ray depends on each dentist’s preferences). These images allow for a thorough initial evaluation and provide a baseline for comparing future X-rays.
After the first visit, routine X-rays are generally done at checkups on the following schedule, although this can vary depending on an individual’s needs:
- Once a year:Bitewing X-rays are taken annually so a dentist can check for cavities in between the back teeth.
- Every 3-5 Years: For a more comprehensive view, eithera full-mouth series ora panoramic X-ray is taken every 3-5 years to evaluate the areas that don’t show up on bitewings.
- As Needed: For specific pain or problems, a peri-apical X-ray (PA), is taken to show a detailed, up-close image of the area. Insurance companies usually require a PA before they’ll cover a dental crown because they want to make sure there isn’t an infection around the root of the tooth (which puts it at risk of failure or needing an extraction).
During an exam, a dentist is limited to seeing the outside surfaces of your teeth and gums. X-rays allow them to see what’s happening under the surface where problems start!
About the Author
With over 15 years of experience, Dr. Joanne Bancroft is a family dentist in Westminster who aims to do the least amount of dental work possible on her patients. Over the years, she’s found how crucial diagnostic tools like X-rays are to monitor her patients’ oral health and catch problems early on. If you have any questions about X-rays, she can be reached via her website.