At Treat Dental Bacchus Marsh, we like to give all of our clients individual care and treatment. Our access to the latest x-ray and imaging technology allows us to get a more thorough diagnosis for you. This lets us determine the best form of treatment to make you smile and be happy again.

The joy of our x-ray and imaging machines is we can see parts of your jaw and teeth that regular inspection just can’t see. Our dental x-ray and scanning machines include:

• Digital Intra-Oral X-Rays. A simple x-ray that is taken while you sit in your chair. With a quick push of a button and our dentists get a great look at the structure of your teeth and jaw.
• OPG. These types of x-rays are full-mouth x-rays taken in another room. We use these to identify wisdom teeth, look for bone anomalies in your jaw and teeth, and to check for dental development with your children.
• Cone Beam CT. This wonderful technology creates a high-quality 3D image of a specific part of your mouth. We can show you a virtual anatomy of your mouth.

Why do we use x-rays in dentistry?

Treat Dental Bacchus Marsh use imaging technology for the following reasons:

• Investigate early signs of decay.
• Monitor the depth of decay to determine if a root canal is appropriate.
• Detection and monitoring of gum disease.
• Monitoring your wisdom teeth.
• The planning of orthodontic treatment.
• Planning of dental implants.
• Looking for bone lesions, diseases, oral cancer and other abnormalities.

Are x-rays safe?

You’d be surprised how often our technicians at Treat Dental Bacchus Marsh get asked this question. X-rays contain radiation, this is true. However, our dental technicians practice the ALARA principle. This stands for- As Low As Reasonably Achievable. It is a safety principle for minimising the doses and exposure to radiation. It is a regulatory requirement for all radiation programs, including dental x-rays.

We achieve ALARA through the following ways:

• Clinicians take the best shots, once, to avoid the need for repeated scans.
• Digital x-rays reduce the dose of radiation each time.
• If possible, we will obtain copies of recent x-rays, to minimise your need for x-rays.
• We use the fastest radiographic film to get the diagnostic information we need. This is rated at “e” speed, or greater. This ensures the least possible radiation does to you.
• Our dental technicians wear radiation detection badges to make sure exposure is minimal for everyone involved.
• We use rectangular collimation (frames) to significantly reduce any radiation exposure.

X-rays get a bad rap when it comes to radiation. There is background radiation in the environment all around, from natural and artificial sources, including solar radiation, which can give you sunburns.

• 1 dental x-ray is the equivalent of 8 hours of exposure to background radiation.
• 1 OPG is the equivalent of 28 hours of background radiation.
• A chest x-ray is the equivalent of 4 days of background radiation.

As you can see, a dental x-ray is not going to be that frightening or dangerous to you in regard to radiation exposure.

If you’re still worried, have a chat with our friendly staff here at the Treat Dental Clinic Bacchus Marsh.

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