All intraoral dental x‐ray units must include an

exposure timer to control the duration of radiation

production. Modern digital timers are
capable of expressing time in thousandths of
a second. Some manufacturers’ timers use
“number of impulses” not “fractions of a second”
as exposure increments. However, impulses can
easily be converted into seconds. Impulses are
associated with the electrical frequency (i.e.
number of hertz). To convert impulses into
seconds, simply divide the number of impulses
by the number of hertz (Hz) . In North America,
standard household electric current is 60 Hz
(cycles per second), while in Europe it is 50 Hz.
Selecting a 30 impulse time would translate into
an exposure of 0.5 s (30 impulses divided by 60)
in the United States. The function of altering the
exposure time permits adapting to different
patient types (e.g. physical size, gagging reflex,
etc.) to achieve optimal image quality. Increasing
the exposure time will result in the generation of
more x rays and consequently produce an overall
denser (i.e. darker) x‐ray image. Conversely, a
shorter time of exposure will result in a less
dense (i.e. lighter) x‐ray image. In general, image
contrast is not affected by exposure time.