what X-rays of my teeth at the dentist show and why it has to be radioactive and what the heavy apron does
In: Physics
X-Rays are a type of high energy electromagnetic radiation. The medical images that are called x-rays are so named because you use that type of radiation to take the images. X-rays are particularly good at taking images of bone and enamel underneath soft tissue like muscle. (Think of them as passing through soft tissue and fluorescing on the bones underneath so you can see an image of the bone without the tissue obscuring it.) It is this specific type of radiation that makes those images possible.
The lead apron at the dentist office is a precaution. Since x-rays cannot pass through lead, the apron prevents any possibility of your internal organs underneath from being exposed.
Dental x-rays show the dentist abnormalities in your teeth, roots, and jaws below the gumline. It also keeps track of all of your dental work like fillings, bridges, crowns and implants. Helping your dentist monitor your oral health.
In addition those x-ray records can be used by a medical examiner or forensic dentist to help identify a body that cannot be identified through standard means, since it is unlikely for any two mouths to have identical teeth with the same dental work in all the same places.
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