At Brighton Kids Smile, part of pre-assessment for most dental procedures is having a dental x-ray taken. This allows the dentist to reliably diagnose cavities and other issues with your child's teeth. Dental x-rays involve much less radiation than most medical X-rays, and digital X-rays like the ones we use even less radiation.
Younger children are placed in their parent’s lap, while older children can sit by themselves on the chair in the x-ray unit. Although the digital x-rays have a lot less scatter radiation, everyone in the x-ray room is protected through the use of lead aprons. We also use smaller, softer x-rays to make the process easier for little ones to get their x-rays taken. All the child has to do is bite on a bite stick that has the x-ray on it and hold still for a couple of seconds. The parent or the x-ray technician can also help by holding the bite stick in place
Sometimes the dental exam can be done using only visual observation for younger patients or special needs children. If the doctor feels that treatment is necessary, further x-rays can be taken at that time, when the child is sedated. Usually, the use of nitrous oxide (or laughing gas) can put the child at ease and make the process of taking x-rays a lot more pleasant.
While visual inspection with an explorer (dental tool) can identify surface decay, taking an x-ray is the only way to detect inter-proximal cavities, or cavities in between the teeth. Also, an x-ray can tell the pediatric dentist how much of the decay has spread within the tooth and if the tooth needs a root canal or a simple filling. Fortunately, at Brighton Kids Smile we make use of digital x-rays so that we can make the most accurate diagnosis possible.
