Reisman Dental Group's Blog

Just how much radiation do you get from a dental x-ray? The typical dental x-ray image series exposes you to about 2-3 mrem (millirem). For comparison, the following are some typical sources of radiation we come in contact with on a regular basis:
Living in a brick home 10 mrem/year
Cooking with natural gas 10 mrem/year
Reading a book 1mrem/year
Cross country flight 5mrem/flight
On average we are exposed to 360 mrem per year from background sources. Obviously, your probably would not refuse to fly on an airplane, live in a brick home or read books. Since we gain valuable information from x-rays to aid in keeping you healthy, it is in your best interest to have routine x-rays.