Beth Mole in Ars Technica:
The American Dental Association does not recommend annual routine X-rays. And this is not new; it’s been that way for well over a decade.
The association’s guidelines from 2012 recommended that adults who don’t have an increased risk of dental caries (myself included) need only bitewing X-rays of the back teeth every two to three years. Even people with a higher risk of caries can go as long as 18 months between bitewings. The guidelines also note that X-rays should not be preemptively used to look for problems: “Radiographic screening for the purpose of detecting disease before clinical examination should not be performed,” the guidelines read. In other words, dentists are supposed to examine your teeth before they take any X-rays.
But, of course, the 2012 guidelines are outdated—the latest ones go further.
More here.
Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.