Doesn’t that sound like the hollow argument the TSA uses that you will get more radiation from the airplane flight itself than from the naked body scanners?
Oh, is that why there is a cancer cluster among TSA agents in Boston and why Europe has outright banned them then?
Oops, sorry. Off on a bit of a mental tangent. Back to the dental x-rays.
If dental x-rays were so harmless, why do they put a big lead suit over you and the technician is sure to step out of the room when the x-rays are taken?
The fact is that anyone who has taken a basic high school Physics class knows that radiation comes in many forms (can we say electromagnetic spectrum?). You can’t compare the radiation from the sun with the radiation from an x-ray machine that takes pictures of your bones.
Completely different forms of radiation!
That being said, sometimes you really do need to get dental x-rays for whatever reason.
If you find yourself in a situation where dental x-rays are needed, be sure to insist that you or your child are given a thyroid guard when the x-rays are taken.
In the picture above, you will see that the child has a lead suit over his body in preparation for the dental x-rays, but where oh where is the thyroid guard?
Nowhere to be seen!
Most dental technicians don’t use one unless the patient specifically asks for it. Given that thyroid cancer is on the rise and that there are so many assaults on this delicate, butterfly shaped organ in our modern life from processed foods and environmental toxins, it is very important that you insist on thyroid protection whenever you get any sort of dental x-ray.
Oh, and I know. Snopes states that this claim is ridiculous. Who crowned Snopes the King of rumor control anyway?
Snopes is for dopes in my opinion. Snopes has no credibility given its constant defense of the food industry and Big Pharma. I wouldn’t be surprised if Snopes is somehow in the food or drug industry’s pocket in some form.
Dental X-Rays a Risk to the Thyroid
Studies have shown that women who are pregnant and have dental x-rays are at a higher risk for having small babies.
Study participants who had dental x-rays while pregnant were at double the risk of having a low birth weight baby born prematurely and triple the risk of having an underweight baby born full term.
This study involved 4,500 women who had babies between 1993 and 2000 and was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Philippe Hujoel, a professor of dental public health services at the University of Washington, said that it is unclear how the radiation might be affecting fetuses but conjectured that perhaps the thyroid gland in the pregnant women was somehow affected by the dental x-rays. He went on to say that previous studies have found an increased risk of low birth weight babies in women with mild thyroid disease.
Insist on That Thyroid Guard!
It is very important to insist on a thyroid guard whenever you or a loved one has a dental x-ray taken. This simple device should also be used during mammograms. But, it is best to not do them at all anyway. In a nutshell, always insist on no-radiation solutions like a thermogram or a breast ultrasound – never a mammogram!
Even Dr. Oz warns that repeated dental x-rays and mammograms can possibly contribute to an increase in thryoid cancer and that wearing one would be a wise move.
What’s it going to hurt to wear one, after all? There is absolutely no downside to this extra safety precaution.
If, after asking your dentist for a thyroid guard, you discover that he/she doesn’t even have one available, you can safely assume that it is time for you to find a new dentist!
Need a Biological Dentist Who Won’t Push X-rays on Your Child?
I get many requests about who I recommend as a truly holistic, biological dentist. If you are looking for one, I recommend Dr. Carlo Litano of Natural-Smiles.com – (727) 300-0044. He sees young children as well as adults. Be sure to tell Dr. Litano that The Healthy Home Economist sent you and get 10% off your first visit!
References
Dental X-Rays Might Lead to Smaller Babies
Sarah Pope has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. Her work is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.
Her work has been covered by major media including USA Today, ABC, NBC, and many others.
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It is not tiny. You are ignoring one important factor. The amount of energy is small but it is concentrated in just a short period of time. That is a big difference in physics. You can see that in simple examples. For example two guys are on the top of a building (Energy = Mass * building height * gravity). One jumps from the building the other goes throuhg the stairs. They eventually arrive at the same spot in the ground, but one is alive the other is dead, but why ? They after all started from the same height and end up in the ground spending the same amount of energy ? The trick is that the guy that used the steps lost the energy little by little, on each step of the stairs. The other lost all the energy in fractions of a second during the impact. See the problem… the time under which you receive that radiation is important.
@Suzette: no, not at all. Aside from CTs, diagnostic radiology is all very low dose stuff.
Just two quick points; the dose from a typical bite wing dental x-ray is about 0.005 mSv. Annual dose from naturally occurring background radiation is about 2 mSv per annum, so the dose (and resultant risk) from a dental x-ray is quite tiny. Secondly, the dose to organs comes from x-rays that are scattered internally within the body. (There is a small amount of radiation that leaks through the tube housing, but for modern tubes this is miniscule and can be neglected.) So lead aprons etc are of no real benefit other than making some patients feel happier. The dentist leaves the room when the x-rays are being taken because they take many x-rays throughout their working life, and receive no benefit from the radiation, so it is considered good practice. Having said that though, if they stayed in the room the dose would be tiny anyway, but there is no reason for them to do so.
So although there is a very small risk from the x-rays, it is really neither here nor there and I am quite happy to get my teeth x-rayed.