The dentist and the detective

Just took D to her 6 month teeth cleaning. The nurse comes out and says, "So for today we will be taking X-rays and then teeth cleaning."
Me, "Whoa, wait. Why are you taking X-rays?"
Nurse: "Oh it's just customary. We take X-rays every 6 months for kids her age just to make sure there are no cavities forming."

And then I continued to question her as to the potential hazard of the radioactivity. To which she replied oh you would probably receive more radiation from being out in the sun...
My response, "yes, but given that we are in the sun every day wouldn't it compound the long-term effects if we were to then add on X-rays every six months at her age??
Nurse was dumbfounded.
Me: do people ever opt out of this?
Nurse: we have not had anyone yet.
Me: well you may take X-ray's today and I will discuss with my husband if we will continue.
Though in my gut, I say no to regular X-rays. That is preposterous.

That day, I did a little bit of research online to find out about potential long-term effects...okay, I looked at two articles. One that stated the X-rays are so low in radiation that it should be fine. I'm not okay with that.
And then I came across a CNN article that basically indicates that they really don't know the long term effects and to be careful. Yes, I opt for that answer and I know that D is not a candidate for cavities. I am crazy conservative about the candy and sweets that she is allowed to have so I know she is not getting sugar on a regular basis.
Her X-rays came out fine and she has no cavities. We will opt out for the year. And, by the way, before this newfangled technology dentists found cavities when they surfaced. On the teeth. And they put fillings in. There is nothing wrong with the old way of doing things.

It's really kind of exhausting how being a parent makes you hyper aware of everything and the amount of investigative work you have to do to actually GET THE FACTS is ridiculous.