Dental School to Study Effects of Oral X-Rays

A team of researchers at the School of Dental Medicine will begin a study in July to determine when dentists should x-ray their patients.

The study, which was prompted by recent reports on the possible harmful effects of dental radiology, will determine which routine x-rays are

"There is a small but significant research fellow in dental care administration and head of the research team, said last week.

"There is a small but significant risk" involved in dental radiology, Valochovic said, adding that some dental x-rays may be "excessive."

Because no intensifying screen is used to enhance the image in a dental x-ray, dental radiographs expose the patient to about ten times the amount of radiation that a chest x-ray does.

Panoramics, x-rays which photograph the entire mouth, expose the salivary glands and the active bone marrow in the jaw to large doses of radiation. The salivary glands and jaw are not exposed to such extensive radiation by any other type of x-ray.

In an article he wrote for a pediatric dentistry journal last year, Valachovic asserted that children are more susceptible to radiation-induced carcinogens than adults because their thyroid glands are located higher in the neck. He said dentists treating younger patients should be "especially careful" when using radiology.

Dental Schools are moving away from the trend of mandatory x-raying, Roy Rinkle, a clinical instructor at the Tufts University School of Dentistry said recently." It is the consumers who are forcing the change," he added, saying, "We're right in changing our ways."

Chester W. Douglass, associate professor of dental care administration, and a member of the Dental School's research team, said earlier this week that while there are risks to radiology, "you must realize there are also benefits. We are interested in doing research because the risk side has only been realized recently."

Valachovic said that dental radiology allowed early detection of problems that might not be identified otherwise. He added that cavities and other tooth problems can often have serious consequences if not detected early.

A large part of the controversy concerning radiology exists because some influential dental researchers believe radiation at low levels does not cause cancer in those exposed, Valachovi said, adding, "We need to examine huge numbers of people before we can see the effects of low doses.