Dental X-Rays Linked to Increased Brain Tumor Risk
LiveScience.comBy Joseph Castro | LiveScience.com ? 15 hours ago
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Dr. Keith Black, a neurosurgeon at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California who was not involved in the research, said he was impressed with the breadth of the research and that the findings fit nicely with those of previous smaller studies. A lingering question, however, is "whether there's an increased risk in the pediatric population," he said.
It may be the case that children have an increased risk of meningioma compared with teens and adults. "Children's tissues are thinner than adults," Black said. "Also, their cells are dividing more rapidly, and can be more easily damaged by X-rays."
People should carefully weigh the risks with the benefits of getting dental X-rays, which can spot such issues as decay, gum disease and oral abscesses, said Black, who's declined getting routine dental X-rays for more than 20 years.
Claus said she is concerned that patients and maybe even some dentists don't know the dental X-ray guidelines.
"We need to just get the word out and make people aware of the guidelines and talk with their dentists about it," Claus said.
The study is published today (Apr. 10) in the journal Cancer....
