Oral Cancer Awareness Month

Did you know that April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month? The death rate associated with oral cancer is particularly high not because it is hard to discover or diagnose, but due to the cancer being routinely discovered late in its development. For patients over the age of 14, the single most important thing that you can do to protect yourself is be sure to have your comprehensive oral cancer screening yearly. This is not a postponable, elective procedure to have done. Annual opportunistic oral cancer exams are a must.

Please call to schedule your complementary exam for your family and friends, new patients are welcome!
Offer expires 4/30/2011
Some restrictions apply

Physicians were able to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer by over 70% in one decade by giving annual Pap smears to American women. You have the chance to help reduce the occurrence of oral cancer please join us during the month of April as we are trying to make a difference.

We hope to see you soon and call to receive a complimentary oral cancer screening in the month of April.

Visit our website to request an appointment or call today. www.guymangiadds.com

Introducing Digital X-Rays!

Dexis Platinum
Our office continually strives to provide important enhancements in oral health care for our patients. This is why we now offer digital x-rays using the first intra-oral digital radiography system to be accepted by the American Dental Association into the highly prestigious ADA Seal Program, Dexis Platinum!

Unlike conventional radiographs (x-rays) on film, we do not have to wait for the dental assistant to develop a digital radiographic image like in the past. Now we can view an enhanced dental x-ray on a computer screen instantly. Dr. Mangia can now magnify the x-ray, allowing him to better see problem areas and making it possible for him to diagnose treatment sooner and faster, before it becomes a bigger problem and more expensive.

What Does This Mean For You?
Digital images remain crisp when enlarged which allow for clinically meaningful images that are extremely clear and highly detailed. This means Dr. Mangia will not only see areas of concern more clearly, he will also see them sooner. This will help prevent extensive work on your teeth.

Digital x-rays are more comfortable for the patient and also allow for shorter appointments because we do not need to wait for the films to develop. That means less time in the chair and less time out of your busy schedule.

Worried About Radiation Exposure?
Recently, there have been several warnings regarding radiation. Here at Dr. Mangia’s office we take every precaution to minimize the exposure to radiation when taking x-rays. When using film x-rays in the past, our office used the fastest capturing film in order to give the patient the least amount of radiation exposure. We also provide the patient with an x-ray shield made of lead to protect you when radiographs are necessary.

By switching to digital x-rays, we reduced the already minimal radiation exposure by 50%! The new advancements in digital radiographs allow us to reduce the number of retakes due to under-and over-exposure and have lower radiation dosages. It is important to weigh the costs and benefits of radiographs. The benefits of taking them are vast when it comes to your health because x-rays are an essential tool in diagnosing infection, decay and many other problems. The cost of not taking x-rays may be extensive and expensive treatment that could have either been minimized or even prevented.

More Benefits
In addition to reducing radiation exposure and decreasing chair time, digital radiographs are a green technology! They do not require film and therefore, there is no developer or fixer to dispose. They provide a more accurate tool for Dr. Mangia overall, and are faster, of a better quality and a more comfortable experience for our patients. And no, there is no increase in cost.

Still Worried about Radiation?

Advances in radiograph technology have overwhelmingly reduced exposure to radiation. As stated previously, digital x-rays have reduced exposure by 50%! But just how much radiation do you get from a dental x-ray and how harmful is it? The answer may please you.

Dental x-rays are expressed in millirems (mrem). 1 mrem is equivalent to .001 rem. A rem is a unit used to measure radiation. The typical dental x-ray exposes you to 2 or 3 millirems, a fraction of one unit of radiation. But what does this even mean?

To put this into perspective, here are a few facts on radiation exposure that occur in your everyday life from a peer
reviewed journal entitled “Radiation Exposure: The Facts vs. Fiction” by the University of Iowa Radiation Protection
Office:
Smoke detectors give off less than 1 mrem per year
Living in a brick house versus a wood one gives off about 10mrem per year
Cooking with natural gas produces about 9 mrem annually
Smoking may give you up to 16,000 mrems
Reading a book for 3 hours per day gives off about 1mrem due to the materials in the wood/paper
Watching T.V. will expose you to 30mrems per year
Taking a flight from Los Angeles to New York will put you into contact with 5 mrem
Sleeping next to someone for eight hours will give you 2mrem

Obviously, you probably would not refuse to fly on an airplane, live in a brick house, read books, live without smoke detectors, or sleep with your spouse because of the small amount of radiation. If you would not refuse these activities, why would you refuse x-rays if the exposure to radiation is either about the same or less than the activities listed above?

The benefits of x-rays definitely outweigh any risks. Here at Dr. Mangia’s office we take every precaution to protect you from radiation exposure. We would never recommend radiographs if we did not deem them necessary or benefit you.

We used Steven D. Rima’s article entitled “How Much Do You Get From Dental X-Rays” as a reference. Steven D. Rima is a Board Certified Health Physicist with over 20 years of experience in radiation safety, including teaching medical and dental professionals for state licensure to take medical and dental x-rays.

Rima, Steve D. "Dental X-Rays." Welcome to the Physics Department at ISU. Web. 12 Jan. 2011. .

If you have any questions feel free to call us anytime at (818)785-0750 or email us at
optimumdentistry@sbcglobal.net.