Although my question was NOT answered by the above responses, I will respond to the questions posed. I do not want dental x rays for myself, or my children, for several reasons.
1. They are associated with meningiomas in several studies. (see American Cancer Association’s article in “Cancer” journal for just one of many articles) I know correlation is not causation, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.
2. No dentist yet has been able to tell me what dire underlying disease I am at risk for, which will be detected by dental x rays. I am in excellent health, non smoker, excellent oral hygiene, and zero symptoms (such as toothache, jaw pain, etc) Sure, maybe there is a chance I have cancer in my jaw or gum—but what are the odds? Miniscule.
It would be like a GP saying to a person in excellent health, “I can’t examine you unless you agree to a full body cat scan—otherwise I have no idea what’s really going on inside your body”.
3. If I had an abscess or an infected root nerve I would be having pain. If that were the case, and an x ray was needed to properly diagnose, I would agree. I am asymptomatic.
4. A dentist is not going to be sued because I refuse x rays. That’s completely false. Definitely not if i sign a statement saying I refuse. (Well, technically he could be sued, but he’s not going to be found guilty of anything.) A patient can completely bleed out in front of a doctor and die if he/she refuses a blood transfusion. The doctor cannot be found guilty of malpractice because the patient refused advised treatment—ie a blood transfusion.
5. I am an adult and my informed health decisions should be mine, not my dentist’s.
6. FYI, for the person making comment that I “should come into the 20th century” I have had x rays in the past—dental, mammograms as well as colonoscopies. I am a reasonable person. I do not want to be coerced into what, in my opinion, are unreasonable requests for x rays.