Dental X-rays and brain tumors

in Doctrine and Covenants, Health, LDS Living, Scripture, Sections 31-60 / on April 13, 2012 at 11:37 am /

“All things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are…to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.”

Doctrine and Covenants 59:18-19

While many natural things are good and healthy for the body, many technologies are so new, that we don’t fully know their long-term effects.  Though Dental X-rays have been used in the united States since 1896, a recent study published by the journal Cancer suggests X-rays may cause a brain tumor called meningioma.

Study Findings

  • Of 1433 patients age 20 to 79, those who had a dental X-ray “bitewing,” exam at least once a year were 1.4 to 1.9 times more likely to develop Meningioma.
  • Those who had “panorex,” exams that X-ray all teeth, were 4.9 times more likely to develop meningioma.
  • It takes meningioma 20-25 years to develop after exposure to radiation.
  • About 1-5% of meningiomas are cancerous.

Potential Study Weaknesses

  • Older patients may have received X-rays from machines that emitted more radiation.
  • The study included self-reports which may or may not be reliable.
Though X-rays are not always necessary, many dentists will conduct an X-ray as part of the annual dental exam.  Dental X-rays are also associated with an increased risk for thyroid cancer.

“The most important and urgent problems of the technology of today are no longer the satisfactions of the primary needs or of archetypal wishes, but the reparation of the evils and damages by the technology of yesterday.”

-Dennis Gabor

My Opinion: I think everything we do affects us in one way or another.  Whether spiritually or physically, I think we will experience not only unique opportunities, but unique challenges with new technology.

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