Tooth truth?"Unsettling un·set·tle v. un·set·tled, un·set·tling, un·set·tles v.tr. 1. To displace from a settled condition; disrupt. 2. To make uneasy; disturb. v.intr. Association: Dental X rays linked to low-birth-weight babies" (SN: 5/1/04, p. 277) suggests that somehow X rays caused low-birth-weight babies in women who had their teeth X-rayed during their pregnancies. Here is an alternative possibility: Perhaps unhealthy people are more likely to have low-birth-weight babies and bad teeth. STEPHEN WOOD, ORLANDO, FL, The article hypothesizes that the dental X-rays hitting the thyroid glands of pregnant women affect birth outcomes. This tentative conclusion was reached without evaluating the thyroid glands of the affected mothers or the controls and therefore seems premature. The mothers who went to the dentist and had X rays were more likely, I would guess, to have had dental work done than the controls and would therefore be more likely to have been exposed to anesthesia and dental amalgams dental amalgam Dentistry A filling material that contains up to 50% mercury, silver and other metals. See Alternative dentistry, Fluoridation, Gutta percha, Mercury. , which are about half mercury. Amalgam amalgam (əmăl`gəm), alloy containing mercury. The alloy may be liquid or solid, depending on the proportion of mercury, although all naturally occurring amalgams, i.e., those of gold and silver, are solid. Amalgams are widely used. has been determined unacceptable in Canada and some European countries, particularly for pregnant women. The researchers in this ease have failed to evaluate a significant risk factor for the population. ERIC WOLF Eric R. Wolf (1923 – 1999) was an anthropologist, best known for his studies of Latin America, and his advocacy of Marxist perspectives within anthropology. Wolf was born in Vienna, but his Jewish family moved first to England and then America to avoid persecution, and , SANTA FE Santa Fe, city, Argentina Santa Fe, city (1991 pop. 341,000), capital of Santa Fe prov., NE Argentina, a river port near the Paraná, with which it is connected by canal. , N.M. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion