Dental X-Rays Can Be Helpful to Your Dentist in Ways You Might Not Have Realized
You’ve probably heard of dental x-rays if you’ve ever visited the dentist. X-rays allow dentists to see what is under the hard outer shell of teeth or beneath the gum line, allowing them to create the best treatment plan feasible. The following are the seven most common reasons for your dentist to order dental x-rays.
Preventative dental care:
At California Dental Group, we believe in the necessity of routine dental care. In other words, if possible, we aim to address minor concerns before they become big sources of pain and discomfort. Routine x-rays are critical to achieving this goal because they can detect growing issues such as cavities between teeth, tumors, abscesses, and developmental anomalies before they become bothersome. We usually recommend a full set of x-rays every 3 to 5 years for adults, as well as bite-wing x-rays once a year.
While the cause of a toothache or other sort of dental pain may be clear in some circumstances, we may need to order x-rays in order to make or confirm the diagnosis and develop an effective treatment plan in others.
Orthodontics
An orthodontist’s job requires a complete set of recent x-rays. After all, they need to be able to observe the positions of the teeth’s roots in order to figure out what series of tooth movements they’ll need to get the teeth into their intended positions.
Root canal
The root canal treatment may fail if the dentist fails to locate all of the tooth’s roots and estimate their exact length. X-rays assist prevent this by providing the dentist with a complete and accurate image of the tooth’s roots prior to the root canal procedure.
Implants
In order to be successful, dental implants must be inserted in healthy bone tissue. X-rays are used to assess the amount of accessible bone tissue and to look for other indicators that will help establish whether or not the patient is a good candidate for dental implants.
Wisdom tooth extraction
X-rays are usually obtained prior to any extraction to determine any potential complicating problems, such as whether the tooth’s roots are close to a nerve. In cases of impacted wisdom teeth that have not yet erupted through the gums, X-rays are extremely helpful.
Crown or bridge work
In order for a crown or crown-supported bridge to be successful, the tooth or teeth receiving the crowns must be in good health. X-rays can be utilized to check for decay on these teeth, as well as any other issues that could jeopardize the crowns’ viability.
