Dental X Ray

When I started to feel some pain in my teeth I had no idea that I would be needing a dental x-ray and what that would show and how much it would cost me to fix. I admit I have always been scared of dentists and so I never go and had never even heard of a dental x-ray let alone had a dental x-ray.

The pain started one morning before I went to work and I was convinced that it would pass, more like hoped it would, and just ignored it at least for the first few hours after that ignoring it was impossible. By eleven o’clock in the morning I was in so much pain that I wasn’t able to think, the tapping of a pen in the next booth was causing me excruciating pain and I could not think at all.

My boss asked me what was wrong and when I said toothache he told me that there was a dental clinic on the second floor and to go there and get myself fixed up. He wouldn’t take no for an answer and even had his secretary make an appointment for me so that I had no choice but to go.

So I dragged my sorry self down to the dentist’s office to see why I was in so much pain. I didn’t have to wait long so it wasn’t too nerve wracking listening to the sound of the drill on the other side of the door.

Before long it was my turn and I went inside to the dentists office. She took one look in my mouth and told me that she needed a dental x-ray to confirm but she thought that I needed to have my wisdom teeth removed. I told her that I had not heard of a dental x-ray before and I asked her what actually a dental x-ray is because it sounded a bit scary to me.

She told me that a dental x-ray was nothing to be scared of as they only use small amounts of radiation and a dental x-ray is used to:

• Locate any problem areas in the mouth like bone damage, decay in the teeth and broken tooth roots, which are called dental injuries.
• To locate teeth that are not in the correct place, haven’t broken through the actual gum or are impacted because there is not enough room for the teeth to grow up through the gum.
• To locate things like cysts, tumors and abscesses.
• Identify and plan root canal treatments.

The different types of dental x-ray

Bitewing dental x-ray

This dental x-ray shows the upper and the lower back teeth, from this dental x-ray the dentist will be able to see how the teeth touch and is convenient because it displays it in a single view. The bitewing dental x-ray is used to look for signs of decay and to ascertain how well the top and bottom teeth line up.

Periapical dental x-ray

This dental x-ray will show the whole tooth from the crown that is exposed to the root end as well as the bones that are supporting the tooth. These are used to locate any dental problems that are below the gum line or even in the jaw like the presence of impacted teeth, abscesses, tumors and changes in the bone.

Occlusal dental x-ray

This dental x-ray focuses on displaying either the roof or the floor of the mouth. They are used to locate any extra teeth that may be present that haven’t yet broken through the gums, fractures of the jaw, tumors, abscesses, cleft palate or any other growths that may be there.

Panoramic dental x-ray

This dental x-ray shows a broader view of the jaw and the teeth and sinuses. These do not locate decay but are more for impacted teeth, cysts, growths, infections as well as fractures.

She was very nice and I appreciated her explanation of what a dental x-ray is and I no longer felt afraid though I was ready to bolt if she got one of those dentist drills out. She told me that I needed to go down the hallway to have the dental x-ray done and she would see ma again afterward to chat about my results.

I had to wait a while for the dental x-ray with a few others but once I was inside they were very nice. They protected me with a lead apron from the radiation and explained it was just a precaution because they were only using very low levels of radiation anyway. I had trouble keeping still when they were actually taking the dental images but all up it only took about ten minutes to get the dental x-ray that I needed.

I waited to speak to the dentist and when she looked at the dental x-ray she told me that I needed to have my two top wisdom teeth removed. I went white when I heard this because that sounded painful. She told me that they actually remove wisdom teeth when the patient is under an anesthetic so it would be relatively painless but it would be sore for a while afterwards.

She recommended that I have this done soon as it was the wisdom teeth that were causing all of the pain but first I needed to take antibiotics first to remove the infection. I wandered back to work afterwards and told my boss what had happened and that they had given me a dental x-ray and then sat down waiting for the painkillers that she had given me to take effect.