Reassurance please!! Dental x ray - freaking out

[nadsc]

I have two broken teeth and the dentist did an x ray. He said it’s safe in pregnancy and that some people just choose to wait till after the baby comes. In hindsight I wish I said no now cos I am stressing out. Im 13 weeks 5 days and just really want any reassurance to make me feel better! Thank you!

Well, my dentist wouldn't do an x-ray, but the GP did tell me it was totally fine to have a dental x-ray in pregnancy. Apparently, the radiation of a dental x-ray is not really any stronger than the radiation that you might get from a flight, and nobody tells you not to fly in pregnancy (except in the last trimester, so you don't give birth on the plane). I don't think a GP would say that if there was a significant danger. Besides, the risk of infection from cracked teeth is probably much greater to the baby than the x-ray.

My dentist refused to x ray me last week and mentioned they are advised it's fine in third trimester but they will wait until after I've given birth before doing them.

Routine X-rays should be avoided but the risks are incredibly low if they are needed for essential work.

With broken teeth I would consent to dental x-rays. Don't worry about it.

I hope I can reassure you as someone who advises on this professionally - the reason the pregnancy question is sometimes not asked for dental x-rays is that the dose is so low (equivalent to about an hour of natural background radiation we’re exposed to in daily life), the x-ray beam is so small and intercepted by the film or detector, and so the amount of scattered radiation reaching the abdomen is absolutely negligible. Many hospital trusts will only ask about the possibility of pregnancy for examinations between the bottom of the chest and the thighs.

Hope this helps, but if you want any further information at all please just ask

@AlphaBetaZeta

I hope I can reassure you as someone who advises on this professionally - the reason the pregnancy question is sometimes not asked for dental x-rays is that the dose is so low (equivalent to about an hour of natural background radiation we’re exposed to in daily life), the x-ray beam is so small and intercepted by the film or detector, and so the amount of scattered radiation reaching the abdomen is absolutely negligible. Many hospital trusts will only ask about the possibility of pregnancy for examinations between the bottom of the chest and the thighs.

Hope this helps, but if you want any further information at all please just ask

Totally agree with everything you said. I'm a radiographer & I would have no hesitation having dental X-rays during pregnancy.

@JackJack84 hello, and thank you for the work you do! I’m just a lowly RPA 😅

@JackJack84 @AlphaBetaZeta thank you so much for your reassurance, it honestly helped so much. I feel better today. I think I just panicked!!

They wouldn't do it if it wasn't OK.

@nadsc ah you're welcome! Pregnancy is a scary time, there's so much anxiety. X-rays do seem quite scary but you'll be absolutely fine

@AlphaBetaZeta nothing lowly about being an RPA, very important job! 😊