A single dental bitewing X-ray exposes a person to a very small amount of radiation, roughly equivalent to the radiation received from about **one to two cigarettes smoked**. This comparison is often used to help people understand the relative risk of dental X-rays in terms of everyday activities like smoking.
To explain this in more detail, a bitewing X-ray is a common dental imaging technique used to detect cavities between teeth and assess bone levels. The radiation dose from one set of bitewing X-rays is approximately 0.3 millirem (mRem), which is a unit measuring radiation exposure. This dose is quite low compared to many other medical imaging procedures.
When comparing this to cigarette smoking, it’s important to understand that cigarettes expose the body to radioactive substances such as polonium-210 and lead-210, which emit alpha and beta radiation. The radiation dose from smoking one cigarette is estimated to be about 0.1 to 0.2 mRem. Therefore, the radiation from a single bitewing X-ray is roughly equivalent to the radiation from smoking about one to two cigarettes.
This means that the radiation risk from a dental bitewing X-ray is very minimal, especially when considering that people are exposed to natural background radiation daily from cosmic rays, radon gas, and other environmental sources. For example, a typical full-mouth dental X-ray series might equal a few days of natural background radiation, while a bitewing set is only a few hours’ worth.
It’s also worth noting that modern digital dental X-rays use advanced sensors and techniques that further reduce radiation exposure compared to older film-based X-rays. Dentists follow safety principles such as ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) to minimize radiation doses, using collimation to narrow the X-ray beam and protective measures like thyroid collars when appropriate.
While smoking cigarettes carries many health risks beyond radiation, including carcinogens that damage cells and increase the risk of oral cancer, the radiation exposure from smoking is one of many harmful factors. In contrast, dental X-rays provide important diagnostic benefits with very low radiation risk.
In summary, the radiation from one dental bitewing X-ray is roughly comparable to the radiation exposure from smoking about one to two cigarettes, making it a very low-risk procedure in terms of radiation dose. This comparison helps put the small amount of radiation from dental X-rays into perspective relative to everyday exposures.
