Do I Really Need Dental Xrays?

Well the short answer is YES. Dental Xrays are the only way your dentist can see between your teeth, below your gums, and under your existing dental work.

So normally you have 2-4 Xrays taken at your 6 months recall cleaning visit. This is a minimum in my opinion. 6 months is a long time, and decay or other problems can develop in much less time. So the areas between and around your teeth and dental work need to be examined closely to prevent expensive or painful surprises.

Here's the problem that has recently surfaced for doctors and patients: some insurance companies only want to pay for Xrays once a year. So I'll be blunt: dentists don't do Xrays for the money. The profit margin on Xrays is pretty low, trust me. The real problem is that when we take xrays a year apart , something may have developed with your teeth, dental work, or gums that requires very expensive dental work, or even tooth loss because it wasn't caught at your 6 months visit. 

In my opinion, dental Xrays a year apart are not adequate, and I'll tell you why. I have had many patients with good dental health whose insurance has decided to only pay for Xrays once a year. So, these patients opted to not have the Xrays taken on their 6 months visit. For many that was a bad decision because decay had formed between their teeth or under their dental work (crowns or bridges) where we cannot see over that year, and by the next time they had xrays significant damage had occurred. Some of these patients actually lost these teeth because they did not want to or could not pay what it would have cost to restore the tooth/teeth.

So, please, have dental xrays taken when your dentist suggests (every 6 months for me)so problems can be detected early. He/she is recommending them to prevent you from spending a lot of money later or even possibly losing a tooth. You'll be surprised at how spending so little can save you so much in certain instances. Prevention and early detection are our biggest goals as dental professionals. So see your dental professional every 6 months to maintain your teeth and gums. You'll be glad you did.

-Dr Culver