Health Buzz: Dental X-rays Linked to Brain Tumors

By Angela Haupt
April 10, 2012 RSS Feed Print

Dental X-rays Linked to Common Brain Tumor

Frequent dental X-rays, particularly in childhood, may increase the risk of developing a brain tumor. Researchers analyzed 1,433 patients who were diagnosed with meningiomas—the most commonly diagnosed brain tumor in adults in the U.S.—and compared them with 1,350 people without tumors. They found that those with brain tumors were more than twice as likely to report having had at least one bitewing X-ray in their life. (For a bitewing X-ray, the patient holds the film in place by biting down on a tab.) Study findings were published today in the American Cancer Society journal Cancer. "Let's get the information out there, let's have patients and dentists talk about this and see if for a given patient, we might be able to reduce the number of dental X-rays they get," study author Elizabeth Claus of the department of epidemiology and public health at Yale University told Time. "That's the more important message."

Health Buzz: Dental X-rays Linked to Brain Tumors - US News and World Report