Nobody likes to get dental x-rays. But the cost of not having them outweighs the risk or root canals or losing the tooth. To show up on a dental x-ray, your tooth needs to lose 30% of it’s structure. That’s already a medium to large cavity which is getting dangerously close to the nerve. There are better ways! We have other options that can do a better job of detecting cavities and lessening your need for dental x-rays.
Apollonia Dental has been utilizing an intraoral camera for years to detect early cavities. The magnification and high intensity light allows easy detection of incipient or small cavities that are just starting. Now, we are using dental trans-illumination to go a step further. A high intensity light is placed next to the tooth. Since tooth enamel is a crystal-like structure, the light makes it easy to detect a defect in the enamel of the tooth. Defects like cavities, cracks or other damage to your tooth show up easily. This allows your dental provider to assess teeth with lower exposure to radiation. In fact, we are using this technique more on young children to reduce their x-ray exposure. By detecting cavities at such an early stage, we are able to fix the tooth, lower your risk of root canals and needing a crown and have a better long term prognosis. What this means to you or your child is less radiation, less discomfort and less cost!
