Maintain Quality, Increase Safety
The single most important way dentists keep their patients safe from radiation is by limiting the beam to the small area being X-rayed and by reducing the amount of radiation that strays from that path. This is done by a process called collimation, in which the machine directs the X-rays through a lead-lined column and out a tiny opening at the end. So although an X-ray machine looks quite large, the X-rays are limited to a small area less than three inches in diameter as they come out of a small cone at the end. X-ray machines are well shielded and there is very little radiation exposure beyond the diameter of the primary beam.

The speed of films used for dental X-rays has been improved so less exposure is needed to get the same results. Digital X-rays reduce radiation by as much as 80 percent, allow our dentists to apply the safest and most modern methods of radiography.