Any other x-ray refuseniks?

[rayo de sol]

Anyone had good luck refusing dental (or other medical x-rays) without your dentist firing you?

I am not convinced that dental x-rays are "safe," despite the widespread mantra of how we supposedly get more radiation from everyday living. I don't really care to add man-made radiation to my natural daily dose.

I also don't think that the mainstream sources are completely honest with the numbers. They claim, for instance, that one receives about 300 mrem of radiation per year just being alive. And they say that 4 digital bite-wing x-rays give an "effective dose" of "only" (as if any amount of radiation is innocuous) 1.3 mrem. But actually just one digital bite-wing has a skin entrance exposure of 90 mrem. So, the 300 mrem dose that's widely quoted for daily living--is that the "effective dose" or the "skin entrance" dose? It seems like they're comparing apples with oranges in terms of methods of measuring the radiation dose.

I don't care if I get radiation from flying in an airplane; there's no need to add to it with medical x-rays that aren't absolutely crucial for saving a life. Radiation exposure is cumulative over our lifetimes. That means every little mrem counts towards our total lifetime burden of radiation. The more lifetime total of radiation, the more chance of health damage.

Here's an interesting article: Low Levels Of Ionizing Radiation May Cause Harm.

So, anyone else who feels unsettled in regards to x-rays?

[sunkist33]

I do worry about x-rays. Some places use digital x-rays, which use 10x less radiation than the traditional, so I called around until I found a place that has upgraded to digital...and I feel much more comfortable taking my 7-year-old there
Stacy

[dinahx]

Oh I am a wild refusenick! My otherwise amazing dentist was like 'it would be like taking your car to the auto mechanic & not checking under the hood.' (refusing xrays) To which my amazing DH replied: 'No, it would be like taking your car to the auto mechanic and not checking all the welds with an X-Ray machine!'

I am quite content to only address dental issues that I can feel or the dentist can see. I have been bullied into Xrays before only to totally witness the dentist not even look at them for more than a milisecond. Study after study shows that risks of radiation are underestimated in medicine. Honestly I would love to boycott on ethical grounds even if my dose isn't harmful! They sure do tweak out though, when you try to refuse. And one dentist I saw kept referring to them as 'pictures'! Umm, not pictures, not dumb thanks!

[dinahx]

Oh and I do only get digital, but I would prefer to refuse all AND, given the existence of digital, I am incensed that anyone would still be permitted to use traditional!

[rayo de sol]

That's so awesome, dinahx! You're inspiring me.

The only problem is I've had dentists refuse to have me as a patient if I don't submit to their x-rays. Have you run into this?

[dinahx]

Yes, unfortunately! I usually negotiate & get 2 bitewings (1 set) but no full mouth series. However I am gearing up for a real fight when they come after my sons! This year I was totally surprised that my dentist didn't mention them. Also my friend does see a dentist who let's her refuse.

[rayo de sol]

Compromising is a good idea too. Thanks! For some reason it never occurred to me that I could insist on x-raying only the problem teeth.

[momofmine]

Originally Posted by dinahx

Oh I am a wild refusenick! My otherwise amazing dentist was like 'it would be like taking your car to the auto mechanic & not checking under the hood.' (refusing xrays) To which my amazing DH replied: 'No, it would be like taking your car to the auto mechanic and not checking all the welds with an X-Ray machine!'

Yes, your DH is amazing! I am laughing so hard right now.

Originally Posted by dinahx

Oh and I do only get digital, but I would prefer to refuse all AND, given the existence of digital, I am incensed that anyone would still be permitted to use traditional!

Originally Posted by rayo de sol

That's so awesome, dinahx! You're inspiring me.

The only problem is I've had dentists refuse to have me as a patient if I don't submit to their x-rays. Have you run into this?

No I have not. I simply say, please just clean the teeth. No x-rays. If they say, "No pictures?" I say, "That's correct, no x-rays. Thank you." End of story. If you find something upon visual examination that needs to be addressed, I am open to changing my mind. But taking an x-ray of an otherwise healthy set of teeth with no indications of anything, no thanks.

I also refuse flouride at my children's pediatric dentist, and they seem to think that's really odd too. Like, why would you want to do that? My dentist does not use flouride anyway, so that's not an issue there.