DENTAL TECHNOLOGY FOR KIDS

Digital X-rays

Digital x-rays help diagnose cavities while they are tiny, often allowing for less invasive treatment. If they are caught early enough, decay may be stopped with some minor changes to your child’s homecare routine. At Elite Smiles Chastain Pediatric Dentistry, we only use the latest in digital equipment to benefit our patients and provide us with the best available technology to help diagnose and prevent dental problems.

Using digital x-rays, Dr. Powell and his team can look for teeth that haven’t erupted yet, make sure your child’s jaws and teeth are developing well, and monitor whether orthodontic treatment will be needed in the future.

Radiation Facts: How much radiation exposure do I get from dental X-rays?

-Modern Digital radiographs give off significantly less radiation than older film-based machines. 

-Radiation Exposure is often measured in units called millirems (mrem). 

-Each year the average person receives about 620 mrems per year from natural man-made sources combines. 

-One round-trip flight from New York to California is approximately 5 mrem.

-One single digital Dental X-ray (bitewing) has approximately 0.15mrem. 

Transillumination X-Ray Free Pediatric Dentistry

Your and your child’s health are our primary concern in every aspect of our pediatric dental treatments, and that’s why we’re pleased to offer radiation-free cavity detection at our office. Instead of taking x-rays that subject patients to harmful radiation, we can now use a portable, handheld device equipped with powerful transillumination technology to detect cavities in some instances.

Transillumination uses near-infrared light to help our Atlanta pediatric dentists identify occlusal, interproximal, and recurrent carious lesions and cracks (cavities), even between the tightest contacts between teeth. The technology makes healthy tooth enamel appear transparent, while highlighting porous lesions and cavities that absorb the light. The near-infrared light used in this technique is much lower-energy than x-rays, producing lower levels of radiation, and it’s ideal for patients who can’t tolerate larger digital film such as our younger pediatric dental patients.