Please take an x-ray
Without any doubt in my mind, the most common, preventable cause of mistakes in dentistry is failure to take sufficient x-rays.
Here are five examples of mistakes that I’ve seen:
A dentists made a crown on a tooth with a large periapical area due to a failed root filling. No x-ray was taken.
A dentist starting a root filling on a tooth that had a huge periodontal defect. The tooth was not fixable. No x-ray was taken.
A patient was treated for 5 visits for TMJ problems when, in actual fact, the pain was due to a carious pulp exposure on a lower molar. No x-rays were taken.
A dentist filled the mesial of a tooth and missed decay on the distal of the same tooth. No x-ray was taken.
A dentist diagnosed sinus pain based on a periapical x-ray of an upper molar with a crown. If they had taken a bitewing they would have seen extensive decay on the distal of the tooth.
Taking x-rays benefits all concerned. The dentist avoids errors, locates problems, and foresees difficulties. Plus, they get paid for taking it. The patient gets higher quality treatment.
Starting any treatment without adequate, up-to-date x-rays is like going in blind folded. My rule is that I never work on or extract any tooth if I didn’t have a current periapical film of that tooth.
