The way I see it, if your dentist gives you any reason to doubt her integrity, you should find a new one. I stupidly allowed myself to be talked into gum scraping by a dentist who I chose because of convenience, only to learn I was scammed. Since I am not a dentist, I need to be able to trust my dentist implicitly.

I usually push x-rays out to every two years. I don't have any ongoing issues and don't see a need for x-rays every year.

Anyone who doesn't trust that their dentist makes recommendations based
on what's in their best interest rather than the dentist's best interest
should find another dentist whose advice wouldn't be second-guessed for
this reason.

When we relocated in 2014, it took us two years to find a dentist we can trust. Good grief, why is so difficult?

This is why we are trying to find a new dentist, the dental office we've used for years has been sold and we don't like the new dentist nor the new prices and the constant push for x-rays. The dentist takes about 10 seconds for the oral exam after a cleaning, no roof of the mouth check, no lymph node check, just a quick peek and done. And for that she charges a $50 "exam fee" in addition to the cleaning fee. No thanks.

I have this discussion frequently with my hygienist. She wants X-rays annually. I prefer much less frequently. Years back I expressed reservation about the amount of radiation from an X-ray. (I'm sure it's much lower now.)

My dentist said "It's no more than a mild sunburn."

I replied, "My dermatologist told me to stay out of the sun."

I get x-rays every 6 months if were watching a tooth. Otherwise once a year. A tooth can continue to decay under a cap, an x-ray can catch decay. I also have Delta Dental insurance($41 a month/total for 2 people) which pays for 2 cleanings a year, 2 sets of x-rays "AND" 1 pano x-ray, each person. Just one cleaning is $125 each x 4....so we come our ahead just with the cleanings. Well worth it!

kadefol, remember that a "new" dentist in an existing practice had to buy that practice and has a big loan to pay off with interest over a short number of years. Even with increased rates, the new one is most unlikely to be taking home anything near what the old one made. Among the more popular approaches to raise income are to try to do the best possible work to keep the patient base, build the practice and grow through referrals. Or to try to squeeze out as much money from the existing practice as possible and risk (and experience) patient defections. If you like the new dentist, give her a chance to do well for you. If you don't trust her, different story.

" My dentist said "It's no more than a mild sunburn."

I replied, "My dermatologist told me to stay out of the sun.""

That's a lame comment from the dentist. I don't know about this specifically but maybe what they may have meant (and not explained well) is that you absorb x-rays from the sun when you're sunbathing or otherwise out and the length of time that would produce a sunburn (from UV rays, what your dermatologist was concerned with) would also correspond to an amount of x ray absorption similar to dental images.

You also absorb more x rays than normal, although at a minor level, when you travel in an airplane

Elmer, in my experience an oral exam by the dentist usually consists of a lymph node check and a thorough visual exam of the entire oral cavity. A few seconds of quickly peering in doesn't cut it. And especially for husband who had a leukoplakia patch years ago (thankfully benign, but they do need to be removed and biopsied). So no, we don't trust her and are shopping for a new dentist.

My dentist said that x-rays are the equivalent of being outside for 30 minutes, so I don't worry too much. I get them done annually or as needed. I broke a crown a few weeks back and they had to do a few x-rays to make sure I didn't need a root canal and then later to make sure it was fitting correctly.

kadefol, I'm just a patient like you but what you describe does seem rushed and incomplete.

Maybe your experience is like mine - I've found the best healthcare providers spend whatever time is needed to perform their tasks thoroughly and competently. The ones who seem to spend only the time available or who try to make more time available to spend on others by taking shortcuts don't deserve or earn a repeat visit.

To be honest, for me it is just that I feel they are padding the bill. Although I have had crowns and cavities in the past, most recently it is just my two cleanings.

That is why I was wondering what others feel about x-rays.

This is from an 'xray risk' website:
Dental x-rays are one of the lowest radiation dose studies performed. A routine exam which includes 4 bitewings is about 0.005 mSv, which is less than one day of natural background radiation. It is also about the same amount of radiation exposure from a short airplane flight (~1-2 hrs). The American Dental Association recommends that patients who are not having problems have dental x-rays performed every two years. Proper shielding is also common, which makes the potential risk even lower.

Okay, I should probably keep my hand on the edge of the pool and not swim toward the middle but if I recall among the things xrays can find is decay between teeth, bone loss underlying teeth (that can lead to loss of teeth), abscesses that haven't yet manifested, tooth root problems, and I'm sure much more.

eld, this is like saying "I've been healthy, why do I need an annual physical and blood work?" What others "feel" about x-rays shouldn't be useful to know. As before, get a dentist you can trust and do what you're told. In the meantime, if it's been awhile, get the xrays done when you go in.

I never really noticed before, but now that I'm having thyroid issues I was a little more hesitant to have the x-rays done, but the heavy apron had a very solid and snug throat guard so I think it was okay.

We get dental xrays once a year and checkups twice a year. When we moved across the city we went to a new dentist. What a shyster. I just had xrays 6 months ago and he didn't want to bother getting them and my old records from my previous dentist. I refused the xrays. Then without xrays preceded to tell me I needed root canals, caps, and old fillings redone. 6 months ago my teeth were fine and I was having no present problems. Yea sure I'm going to have all that unnecessary work done. He even billed our insurance for teeth scaling on my husband that my hubby refused to have. Yes, I notified the insurance company he never had it done. We spend the 30 to 45 minutes travel and returned to our old honest dentist.

I have my teeth cleaned every 6 to 8 months, because that's what my insurance covers. X-rays are once a year, but I push it back to every 1 1/2 years.

My first dentist, when I moved here decades ago, retired when he had a health scare and I'm happy for him, but sad for me and his patients. He took his time trying to find the best person to take over his business, and he was successful!

Everyone also loved the new dentist--but the new dentist lived an hour away and just had twins and his family decided to not move closer. He didn't last long because of the travel time (longer than an hour when there's traffic, and there always seemed to be traffic), so he sold the practice to this other dentist.

And now we get to the other dentist. I have really good insurance...REALLY GOOD insurance, and I got the idea that they saw dollar signs every time I walked in there! Oh, he said, I needed this or that done, and I politely declined. Then he had his office staff try to pull a fast one and someone called me to schedule that procedure we talked about doing. I set them straight and said I had NOT talked about getting this done, and was going to wait on it, as I had said the last time I was there. About two months later, another office staff person called and said she was following up about when I wanted to schedule that procedure! I told her that she was mistaken, and at that point, I decided to get a new dentist.

I'm pretty happy with my new dentist--I've had him for about 2 years, and the office staff people and dental hygienists are also very kind!

I get x-rays once a year, cleanings twice a year. If I suspect a problem, I go in between regular visits. There have been times when I wonder if I am helping to pay for my dentists vacations. Nevertheless, I’d like to catch any problems early. I’ve had two implants and they cost a bazillion dollars.