Unfortunately, the dental office would still be held legally responsible for failing to discover bone loss, fractures, etc. that only x-rays reveal. We share your concern about x-rays and we take every precaution to minimize them. We try to postpone all x-rays with women who are or might conceivably be pregnant. The one exception is with absolute emergencies - and then only with the consent of her obstetrician. Only the highest speed films are used.
Radiation is minimized because less time is required for exposure.
Every 6 months. Every 5 years or as indicated. There has never been a single instance reported in the dental or scientific literature of a patient contracting a malignancy because of dental x-rays. The amount of radiation received from dental machines is as little as one twentieth of the power of a medical x-ray machine. Yet, the benefits to be derived from necessary dental x-rays are far greater than the hazards.