Dental X-ray, cancer link assessed.Dental X-ray, cancer link assessed A new study shows for the first time an increased incidence of salivary gland cancer in people exposed to very high levels of dental X-rays, such as those commonly used through the 1950s. While finding no such relationship for exposure to the smaller doses used today, the researchers observed a dose-dependent trend, which they say affirms the importance of minimizing exposure to dental X-rays. Many dentists repeatedly expose their patients to unwarranted risk by not taking advantage of new, low-dose technology, they assert. The study focused on tumors of the parotid gland, a major salivary gland major salivary gland n. Any of three salivary glands, the parotid gland, the submandibular gland, and the sublingual gland, which are the largest of the oral cavity and secrete the most saliva. located in the cheek and directly in the path of many dental X-rays. Susan Preston-Martin of the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission School of Medicine in Los Angeles and her colleagues interviewed 408 patients with parotid parotid /pa·rot·id/ (pah-rot´id) near the ear. pa·rot·id adj. 1. Situated near the ear. 2. Of or relating to a parotid gland. n. A parotid gland. tumors and an equal number of matched controls. They compared the two groups' exposure to dental X-rays and other types of cranial radiography. After correcting for other risk factors, they found an X-ray-related increase in malignant parotid tumors, they report in the Aug. 17 JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE. "The paper really is a testimonial to the safety to modern diagnostic X-ray procedures," says Charles Schoenfeld of the American Dental Association American Dental Association (ADA), n.pr a nonprofit professional association whose membership is dental professionals in the United States. Its purpose is to assist its members in providing the highest professional and ethical care to the citizens of the in Chicago, noting that X-ray doses today are about one-five-hundredth the minimum average dose the study associates with an increased risk of cancer. However, says study coauthor Stuart C. White of the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). at Los Angeles School The Los Angeles School of Urbanism is an academic movement emerged during the mid-1980s, loosely based at the University of Southern California and UCLA, that poses a challenge to the dominant Chicago School of Urbanism. of Dentistry, the dose-related findings leave open the posibility that even low doses could carry some risk over longer periods of time. He estimates that fewer than half of the dentists in the United States have switched to "E speed" X-ray film. Available since 1981, the high-speed film requires half the X-ray dose of the most commonly used film. Similarly, most dentists do not use rectangularly columnated Co`lum´na`ted a. 1. Having columns; as, columnated temples s>. X-ray beams, which can cut X-ray doses by another 50 percent, White says. |
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