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Medical Forum / General / Dentistry / April 2006Full-Mouth X-Rays - How Often?
I'd like a considered opinion on how often you should have full-mouth X-rays, especially if one has had numerous root canals in the past. In my case, it was coming up on 5 years and an infection was discovered along side #4, an endo-tooth, treated back in 1989. I have had no symptoms to report, except those of a healing root canal which lasted about 3 months. I've been chewing on it, unaware of any problem; nothing showed up on the X- rays of 12/2000. I'm scheduled for surgery next week. Is 5 years the norm, or is it one of those "it depends" situations? The area of infection looked large enough to me, but the endodontist claimed it is not an emergency... yet. That was back in January. I think I need to be better prepared in the future. :-)  Signaturejohn > I'd like a considered opinion on how often you should have full-mouth X-rays, > especially if one has had numerous root canals in the past. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > I think I need to be better prepared in the future. :-) It's one of those "it depends" situations. Generally, the greater the quantity and complexity of dental treatment a patient has had in the past, the more likely something will crop up that will show up on a full series of x-rays. Root canal failures are one of the events; periodontal breakdown is another. Many root canal failures present on x-ray as a dark area surrounding one or more roots. Sometimes there will be a gum boil, sometimes not. Perhaps not intuitively, some of these teeth with large dark areas are less likely to turn into an acute toothache, because there is no bone overlying the root and if the infection flares it will drain through the gum, rather than building up pressure within the bone. Good that you're dealing with the situation. These kinds of things happen; don't know how you'd prepare better, except to understand that these things happen and get checked periodically. Steve SignatureMark & Steven Bornfeld DDS http://www.dentaltwins.com Brooklyn, NY 718-258-5001 >> I'd like a considered opinion on how often you should have full-mouth >> X-rays, especially if one has had numerous root canals in the past. [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > Steve Steve, thanks for the follow-up. I wondered about the size and why there was no pain. From what I remember, it was a rather large "teardrop" shaped area, distal(?) from the tooth itself. The narrow top portion appeared to be touching the root at an angle, like a baloon hanging down on the right side toward #3. No gum abscess is present. My regular dentist told me it would probably take 6 months for the bone to grow back. (ouch!) No one is talking about antibiotics - I would assume they'd be necessary after the Apico..(?) I think I would welcome them at this point. <g> Thanks again. Signaturejohn >>>I'd like a considered opinion on how often you should have full-mouth >>>X-rays, especially if one has had numerous root canals in the past. [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > > Thanks again. My guess (only a guess) is that you will be on antibiotics for a week or so after the surgery. Yes, the bone takes a long time to grow back, but the infection presumably will be gone shortly after the surgery--the bone just takes time to grow. Steve <snip> >>John K. wrote: >> [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Steve Got it! :-) Signaturejohn Depends but in general its no problemo. We expose at 0.3 seconds ..... years ago it was 3.0 seconds! Joel John K. Wrote: > I'd like a considered opinion on how often you should have full-mout > X-rays, [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > -- > joh -- Joel34 > Depends but in general its no problemo. We expose > at 0.3 seconds ..... years ago it was 3.0 seconds! > > Joel Yes, I am aware of the exposure times - thanks - but it was not my concern. All things considered, I would rather have them more often, especially if there is/has been extensive endo-therapy, and 5 years seems a bit long. I'm looking to shorten that to a max of 3! Signaturejohn >>Depends but in general its no problemo. We expose >>at 0.3 seconds ..... years ago it was 3.0 seconds! [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > there is/has been extensive endo-therapy, and 5 years seems a bit long. > I'm looking to shorten that to a max of 3! This seems to be the default interval of periodontists (3 years). Whether there should be a "default" interval is another story entirely. In any case, I wouldn't consider it unusual if things aren't well controlled (caries, perio, etc.). Steve SignatureMark & Steven Bornfeld DDS http://www.dentaltwins.com Brooklyn, NY 718-258-5001 We agree .... in fact every other year is okay too. Joel Packrat? Wrote: > > Depends but in general its no problemo. We expose > > at 0.3 seconds ..... years ago it was 3.0 seconds! [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > -- > joh -- Joel34 |
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