Please don't worry yourself sick. Just two dental x-rays is a very slight exposure. Michelle is talking about how we can build up radiation over our lifetime, and your daughter is still young. Remember that the x-ray is only active for the second that the technician flips the switch, and it is guided right at the teeth. Also, not all dentists use thyroid protectors -- I am 51 and it is only very recently that I've started hearing about this. I'm used to the protectors that cover your chest and abdomen, but I'm not sure anyone's ever used a thyroid protector with me. (I will start asking for one now, however.)
We all do build up exposure to radiation in our lifetimes, true. But two dental x-rays will not amount to very much over her lifetime. And we live with natural "background radiation" every day from our surroundings.
It may help you to know this, from RadiologyInfo.org:
"To explain it in simple terms, we can compare the radiation exposure from one chest x-ray as equivalent to the amount of radiation exposure one experiences from our natural surroundings in 10 days."
One thing that may make you feel better is to keep a record of her X-ray exposure so that later in her life, she'll be able to pass this information on to doctors if needed.
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Anon,
Please don't worry yourself sick. Just two dental x-rays is a very slight exposure. Michelle is talking about how we can build up radiation over our lifetime, and your daughter is still young. Remember that the x-ray is only active for the second that the technician flips the switch, and it is guided right at the teeth. Also, not all dentists use thyroid protectors -- I am 51 and it is only very recently that I've started hearing about this. I'm used to the protectors that cover your chest and abdomen, but I'm not sure anyone's ever used a thyroid protector with me. (I will start asking for one now, however.)
We all do build up exposure to radiation in our lifetimes, true. But two dental x-rays will not amount to very much over her lifetime. And we live with natural "background radiation" every day from our surroundings.
It may help you to know this, from RadiologyInfo.org:
"To explain it in simple terms, we can compare the radiation exposure from one chest x-ray as equivalent to the amount of radiation exposure one experiences from our natural surroundings in 10 days."
Here's that web page:
http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/safety/index.cfm?pg=sfty_xray
One thing that may make you feel better is to keep a record of her X-ray exposure so that later in her life, she'll be able to pass this information on to doctors if needed.
August 6, 2009 - 8:29amThis Comment
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