Getting frequent dental X-rays appears to increase the risk for a commonly diagnosed brain tumor, a new study finds.Exposure to ionizing radiation -- the kind found in X-rays -is the biggest known environmental risk factor for largely non-malignant meningioma brain tumors. Routine dental X-rays are among the most common sources of radiation for most healthy people in the U.S.
The new study suggests that performing frequent X-rays may expose patients to unnecessary risk.
"These
findings should not prevent anyone from going to the dentist," says
lead researcher and neurosurgeon Elizabeth B. Claus, MD, PhD, of Yale
University School of Medicine and Boston's Brigham and Women's
Hospital. "But it appears that a large percentage of patients receive
annual X-rays instead of every two to three years, which is the
recommendation for healthy adults."
Dental X-ray, Benign Brain Tumors
While
the vast majority of meningiomas are non-malignant, they often grow to
be very large and can cause a wide range of potentially serious
symptoms, including vision and hearing loss, frequent headaches, memory loss, and even seizures.
They
are the most frequently diagnosed brain tumors among adults in the
United States, accounting for about a third of all primary brain and
central nervous system tumors.
Several small studies have
suggested a link between cumulative dental X-ray exposures and
meningiomas, but the findings were inconclusive.
In the
newly published study -- the largest ever to examine the question --
people who reported having "bitewing" X-rays at least yearly were found
to have a 40% to 90% greater risk of meningioma.
The study shows an association but does not prove a cause-effect relationship.
The
study included about 1,400 meningioma patients between the ages of 20
and 79 when they were diagnosed between the spring of 2006 and the
spring of 2011.
When the patients' self-reported dental
histories were compared to adults with similar characteristics who did
not have the brain tumors, lifetime exposure to either bitewing or
panoramic dental X-rays -- which include the upper and lower jaw -- was
significantly associated with meningioma risk. This risk was higher in
people who received panoramic X-rays when they were younger than 10.
The
meningioma patients were more than twice as likely as the adults
without brain tumors to have had dental X-rays at some point during
their lives, Claus tells WebMD.
The study appears in the April 10 issue of the American Cancer Association journal Cancer.
Annual Dental X-rays Not Recommended
Claus
tells WebMD that the American Dental Association recommends healthy
adults receive routine mouth X-rays every two to three years. Dental
X-rays are recommended every one to two years for children and every
1.5 to three years for teens. Children often require more X-rays than adults because of their developing teeth and jaws and increased likelihood for cavities.
Neurosurgeon
Michael Schulder, MD, agrees that the newly published findings make a
good case for limiting the frequency of dental X-rays whenever possible.
Schulder
is vice chairman of the department of neurosurgery at the Cushing
Neuroscience Institute, which is part of the North Shore-LIJ Health
System in Manhasset, New York.
"The chance of these tumors
arising in patients who were X-rayed yearly was low," he notes in a
news release. "Nonetheless, dentists and their patients should strongly
consider obtaining X-rays less often than yearly unless symptoms
suggest the need for imaging."