Should you be concerned about radiation from dental xrays?

With Japan and the Fukushima nuclear crisis in the news the dangers of ionising radiation have been brought to everyone's attention. You can't see radiation but most people are aware that it can be dangerous.

Radiation has several effects on the body. A large single dose (like being very close to a damaged reactor) has immediate effects that will make you ill or kill you, remember Alexander Litvinenko who was deliberately poisoned a few years ago.

For the general population it is the long term effects of an accumulated dose over many years that is more relevant, by either increasing the risk of cancer or causing birth defects, and these are the sort of effects that are seen in people living near Chernobyl where there was a nuclear disaster in 1986. Health problems are still being suffered by local residents and especially children due to the ongoing increased levels of radiation.

So how does dentistry fit into this? You might be concerned that having a dental xray will increase your radiation dose. Of course it does, but it needs to be put into perspective. You receive radiation every day from your surroundings (background radiation) and this is by far the biggest source of radiation most people receive over their lifetimes. A dental xray is roughly equivalent to the amount of background radiation you experience over the course of a day, and less than the additional amount you would get from a plane flight to Spain. Have a closer look at the clever chart above by clicking this link and you will see how insignificant the dose from a dental xray is compared to other radiation sources, including the radiation from Fukushima.

Of course that doesn't mean we don't have to be careful with medical and dental xrays. Modern technology has dramatically reduced the necessary dose to get a good xray picture and there are regulations which we, as dentists, must adhere to, as well as making sure we don't take any unnecessary xrays (for example if someone has had a recent xray elsewhere I always request a copy rather than taking a new one).

Dental xrays are an important tool for diagnosing problems and planning treatment, but they really aren't a significant problem when you consider overall radiation doses from all sources. My thoughts are with those who work or live near Fukushima and I sincerely hope the crisis can be controlled. Like Chernobyl, we may not be able to count the total human cost of the disaster for many years to come.