Are dental X-rays safe for a radiated AN?

[mk]

Hello everyone,

I had a routine dentist appointment today, and they wanted to do X-rays for the check-up. I suddenly realized that I haven't seen any information about this - are dental X-rays safe for a radiated AN? (I had GK approximately 20 months ago). To be on the safe side I asked them not to do it, but I was wondering, has anyone heard if there is a reason not to do an X-ray?

Marianna

[Mickey]

Very interesting! I would call and ask the people who done your GK. Let us know what transpires. Best wishes, Mickey

[CHD63]

Marianna .....

Although I did not have radiation for my AN (I had surgery), I did have radiation exposure to my nose as a teenager.  Because of several CT scans of my head and this history, I routinely ask my dentist to only do x-rays when he suspects a problem.  IMHO dental x-rays are greatly overdone to prevent lawsuits ..... but that is just me.  If you have serious issues with dental problems or a strong family history of dental problems, it might be a different situation for you.

Maybe someone on here knows of any studies on this.

Clarice

[Jim Scott]

Marianna ~

Now you tell me! 

I had my usual every-3-years dental X-rays last summer and suffered no ill effects.  My dentist is very professional and is well aware of my AN history, including the FSR treatments  I underwent in 2006.  I'm pretty sure - but not positive - that dental X-rays pose no real problem to anyone who has undergone the GammaKnife procedure.  Of course, I'm in my 60's and the idiom 'long term' is qualified by my expected life span (about 15 years).  Not that I'm counting or anything.

Jim 

[mk]

OK, so I asked the doctors at the Cyberknife support forum. Dr. Medberry said no problem at all. This, together with Jim's  comment about his dentist being well aware of his AN history, pretty much convinces me that there is no need to avoid X-rays.

Having said this I agree with Clarice about dentists overdoing it with dental X-rays. Both times that I refused to have them at my dentists' office, he said "no problem, we will do some old fashion diagnostics" - which worked just fine. This made me realize that before having widespread access to X-rays, dentists were still able to do their job - so may be it is prudent to use them as a diagnostic tool sparsly, only as needed.

Marianna

[Agate]

Good question!  I had my GK in October and was concerned about X-rays when I had my dentist appointment this week.  I was glad that I wasn't actually due to have them until June!  I'm always finding out some little bit of info when I read the forum.