Dental xrays and AN's

[LakeErie]

Am no expert, but ionizing radiation as a cause of AN's is considered in cases when large doses were received earlier in life as a form of treatment.
Roger Ebert, the film critic from Chicago, received large doses of X-rays as a child for chronic ear infections, and as a result may have developed cancer of the salivary glands which spread and caused the loss of his jaw and other problems before he recently died.
Others have received radiation to the face and head in the 1960's and 1970's for severe acne and chronic sinus inflammation which has caused a higher incidence of thyroid cancer.
The risk seems not from regular, occasional low dose exposure to x-rays, but from reaching some threshold of accumulated higher doses.
Since this is true in cases of cancer, it is suggested the same may be true in benign tumors like AN's. Just my opinion.

[MDemisay]

Folks,

Thank you for you for all of your input. In my case, the risk associated outweighs any short term look-sees with a dental exams, unless I'm in agony, the xrays are a nuisance  for me. Too much worrying about what they might do......

Let me tell you something about 2004( my banner year) after I remedied my constant getting colds every year by removing the silver amalgams (of which there were and replacing them with a non leaching material I felt fine.That is, until I went for my CT scan which began the AN saga!

Mike

 

[leapyrtwins]

Personally - and please note that this is 100% my opinion (not based on fact) - I don't see dental xrays being responsible for ANs. 

As others have noted, so many people have dental xrays for years, yet we ANers are still somewhat unique and rare.  I think if dental xrays were responsible there would be many, many people being diagnosed with ANs.  And while I'm sure there are many people out there who haven't been diagnosed - or have been misdiagnosed - I don't think we're talking about hundreds of thousands of them.

I don't buy into the cell phone theory either; as I've noted numerous times on the Forum.

I think that ANs - like sh*t - just happen 

Jan

[terisandler]

When I was very young, I was given X-ray treatments to my neck area as a treatment for tonsillitis.  Four weeks ago I was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma.  I have also had two parathyroid glands removed (one in 2010, the other in 2011).  I would bet money that my hyperparathyroid condition and AN are a result of the X-ray treatments 50+ years ago....

[CHD63]

Just to clarify .....  I do not think any researchers are suggesting dental x-rays might cause ANs.  What they are saying is the only known correlation is in patients who have had large doses of ionizing radiation (dental x-rays are very tiny amounts ..... each one no more than one would get being in the sun without protection for 30 minutes).  That being said, radiation does accumulate in the body so it is the total Gy over a period of time that might be a concern.

Clarice

PS ..... terisandler, there is a strong likelihood your AN could be a result of the massive doses given back then (which is the same time frame I had my exposure).