What's iopa x-ray? what does it do? my mom went for ultrasonic scaling & it was mentioned on prescription. thank you.

Acronym:: It probably stands for "intra-oral peri-apical" x-ray. It means one of the smaller high-definition images of a tooth showing the root in the bone. :).

10 periapical x-rays: The small radiographs (x-rays) that dentist's take to see the bone level supporting the teeth and the roots are called periapical images or pa's for short. I suspect the first part is not 'io' but the number ten (10) for ten images taken. This is the usual number needed to see all of the teeth.

Xray PA: A periapical xray will show the entire root and a dentist can look for infections, widened pdl space, bone loss (horizontal/ vertical) or bony defect, and after getting ultrasonic cleaning, the hygienist or dentist is just probably wanting to be thorough to look at the tooth in its entire condition.