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| - My husband and I had been with Madder Dentistry, presently Sonoran Vista Dentistry, for over a year. We went for regular teeth cleanings and some dental work. It has very nice and friendly front desk and most hygienists are thorough and knowledgeable. That's the positive.
The NegativeS: It was very unpleasant to find out that with the purchase of Madder Dentistry by a new dentist, the policy of the office has changed. So now, every patient is REQUIRED to HAVE and to PAY for the dental X-Rays every 6 months. The only legitimate excuse to omit X-Rays would be pregnancy (well, if they ask you and you don't forget to tell them) or no caries in the previous 6 months. Then, the patient can has to get X-rays just ONCE a year (cost around $100+).
It was highly inconvenient to find out about this policy during the visit and not to have dental cleaning done. There was no notification about this new policy before the visit.
The current dentist absolutely relies on X-ray picture and evaluated the health of our teeth only looking at the picture during our previous visit. The current dentist came up with the treatment plan of 2 crowns and several fillings highly recommended before the next 6-month-appointment for teeth cleaning. If I do not get all this work done (hence, $1000-4000 in dental work), I will be coerced into dental X-Rays every 6 months).
Dental practice is a business; one brings home what one kills: as many crowns/fillings/X-Rays one can recommend in this case. It is very understandable, when the dentist has just bought and paid upfront for a practice with the certain number of patients. The more dental work is prescribed, the faster the dentist will get reimbursed for the investment he made with the dental practice.
So why am I so concerned about getting X-Rays every 6 months? Mainly, because I follow current research and American Dental Association, as well as Canadian Dental Association guidelines that suggests that dental X-Rays are overused, that dental X-rays should be performed every 1-3 years, and only after thorough examination of the teeth by the dentist. It's not ONE FITS ALL SIZE.
Recent study "DENTAL X-RAYS and RISK OF MENINGIOMA" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22492363 states there is an increased risk of intracranial brain cancer, in spite of low dose X-Ray radiation. Also, the name of the article "Dental X-Rays and the RISK OF THYROID CANCER" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20397774 , speaks for itself.
To sum up, FDA's and American Dental Association (ADA) recommendation: "Radiographic screening for the purpose of detecting disease before clinical examination should not be performed. A thorough clinical examination, consideration of the patient history, review of any prior radiographs, caries risk assessment and consideration of both the dental and the general health needs of the patient should precede radiographic examination.9-15 and
"Dentists should conduct a clinical examination, consider the patient's oral and medical histories, as well as consider the patient's vulnerability to environmental factors that may affect oral health before conducting a radiographic examination."
http://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationEmittingProductsandProcedures/MedicalImaging/MedicalX-Rays/ucm116504.htm
The practice rules of this dental office definitely outweigh the national recommendations of American Dental Association.
"New Dental X-Ray Guidelines Spell Out Radiation Reduction" http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/779091 states that "Dentists who ignore the new American Dental Association (ADA) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines on radiography may be putting their patients at unnecessary risk, experts told Medscape Medical News this week."
It's up to you, but I do not want to be put at risk due to the new policies of my previous dentist.
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