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A new study published in the Acta Oncologica has found an association between dental x-rays and risk for incidence of thyroid cancers.

A dental x-ray is one of the basic investigations when you consult a dentist. It helps to vizualise the teeth as well as bone and soft tissue structures around it. It enables detection of tooth cavities, cysts, hidden wisdom tooth etc.  And dental x-rays are a common source of low-dose radiation as a course of dental treatment might require multiple dental radiography and the neighouring stuctures like the thyroid gland is also exposed to it. Concern rises as it is proven that the thryoid tissue is quite vulnerable to radiation induced carcinogenesis.

To assess the risk of thyroid cancer from dental x-rays, researchers from Brighton (England), Cambridge (England) and Kuwait conducted a case control study, the results of which are published in the journal Acta Oncologica. The researchers were led by Dr Anjum Memon, senior lecturer and consultant in public health medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (England), a partnership between Brighton and Sussex universities, and NHS (National Health Service) Brighton and Hove (England).

The population-based case-control interview study was conducted in Kuwait and included 313 patients with thyroid cancer and a similar number of individually matched (year of birth ± three years, gender, nationality, district of residence) control subjects.

The results showed that exposure to dental x-rays was significantly associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer (odds ratio = 2.1, 95% confidence interval: 1.4, 3.1) (p=0.001) with a dose-response pattern (p for trend <0.0001). The association did not vary appreciably by age, gender, nationality, level of education, or parity. Researchers opine that further studies using historical dental x-rays is required to support the hypothesis.

“The public health and clinical implications of these findings are particularly relevant in the light of increases in the incidence of thyroid cancer in many countries over the past 30 years,”said Dr. Anjum Menon, the lead investigator.