Ionizing Cancer: A Case Study

Over the past few decades one of the main arguments patients have when going to see a dentist is the amount of radiation they are exposed to while taking dental radiographs. Every time this happens the dentist has to sit the patient down and talk to them about the cause versus effect. While many patients think that they are being over exposed to radiation while having a standard set of x-rays every year, they never take into account the amount of radiation that they are receiving through other devices of by just walking outside. Not many dental providers think of the amount of radiation they are receiving just by working with it every single day. The lack of knowledge that dental providers have about radiation exposure can affect their overall

Cone-beam CT scanners are claimed to be the most “technology safe way to obtain highly detailed images” of people’s mouths. (Aker, 2010) These types of scans are even more controversial for children, due to children being more susceptible to the effects on radiation. These scans can put children at greater risks due to their bodies being smaller than adults, plus their bodies are still in the developing stages. The earlier they are exposed to radiation the more likely to have effects or problems over their lifetime. (Aker, 2010) The concern is the repeat exposure over a lifetime of dental screening not the one single dose exposure. If the cone-beam CT scanner is misused or overused on a single patient let alone a child the much larger the issue to these patients later on in life. The patient can result in later life cancer of thyroid or head, could also result in cells being developed wrong and or even the killing off of oral mucosa cells. Though these scans only minimally increase the risk of cancer, there is still that risk and so dentists, orthodontists, patients, and parents of the children patients, need to ask if these scans

According to Irish et al. (2006), 5% of all newly diagnosed cancers are malignant tumors of the head and neck. Radiotherapy is one of the most used therapeutic modalities to treat this type of cancer and may be associated or not with surgery or chemotherapy. However, despite the radiotherapy achieve only cancer cells target, it can cause harmful side effects in normal cells of the irradiated zone, affecting the quality of life of the patient or even changing the evolution of the treatment itself. The main side effects resulting from radiotherapy in the oral cavity occur in the skin, mucosa, bone, salivary glands and teeth, and some of the most frequent complications include xerostomia, mucositis, dysphagia, candidiasis, among others. Thus, the dentist has a key role in the multidisciplinary team of cancer treatment, helping to minimize the frequency and the morbidity of the complications from the

There are two very divergent viewpoints across the medical provider landscape as to whether radiological testing is used too much or not enough. The basic equation comes down to a balance between being sure that certain conditions and disorders are not in play and not wasting time/money and/or exposing the patient to potential harm due to the fairly dangerous nature of being exposed to too much radiation.

All of our X-rays are digital, using 90 percent less radiation to get an even more accurate image of your mouth. And we use ViziLite Plus, which uses ultraviolet light to help detect signs of oral cancer.

These images call for up to 90% less radiation than with standard film type x-rays. Instead of making use of the traditional silver-oxide x-ray film that must be formulated and then fixed in caustic and ecologically harmful solutions, the new system calls for pictures by way of a small digital sensing unit and it then immediately sends a Image of the tooth on to the video monitor in the treatment room. Therefore, we can easily see your teeth and surrounding components Instantly. Not only does the new digital x-ray do away with the typical wait for x-ray film to be prepared, but it also is highly sensitive, so that patients are exposed to even less radiation than with conventional x-rays.

Film radiography is the traditional method by which dentists have been retrieving dental X-rays of their patients’ mouths for years. This method, as its name indicates, requires the use of traditional film. Film radiography offers images in about 16-25

3- Radiology is where the frontiers of medicine are extended by the application of technology and physics, first in diagnosing 4- modalities and increasingly in therapeutic ones. It is truly inspiring to witness and be a part of this evolution in dentistry. Conclusion:

CBCT provides more precise 3-dimensional (3D) images than conventional 2D periapical radiographs with a reasonable radiation dose. In addition, its noninvasive in vivo application allows expanding the number of samples than previous microscopic analysis by using extracted teeth (19, 20). Differences in gender and the bilateral prevalence of anatomic variations can be compared easily on in vivo CBCT images because of their certain identification of tooth position and study subjects (18, 19,

The first invention of radiology began with the creation of X-rays in 1895 when Wilhelm Roentgen, a 50-year-old professor of physics at Germany’s University of Wurzburg, made a discovery that would in a very short time change medical and human history. Though, discovered by accident, Roentgen’s discovery would help detect tumors, broken bones and bullets buried within bodies, never before seen with the naked eye. Since the invention of X-rays, there had been numerous discoveries of similar inventions, from image intensifier to ultrasound to magnetic resonance imaging. Without these inventions, humans would not have been able to see the inner workings of the body or detect key information in modern times that allow us to prevent serious illnesses where other inventions proved useless since imaging plays a huge role in diagnosis. In current society, radiology’s first creation has been exposed to most citizens, whether it is to detect a broken bone at the doctor’s or to determine a person’s risk of getting cavities at the dentist’s. Although, inventions from radiology does hold risks of radiation exposure amongst its patients, the benefits of them greatly outweighs its risks.

Evidence has linked exposure to low-level ionizing radiation at doses used in medical imaging to the development of cancer.

According to the research, those who are frequently exposed to dental x-rays have double or triple chances of developing meningioma, a type of tumor that is not malignant. This has created a lot of speculation as a lot of Americans have increased dental visits and treatments that involve dental x-rays. The frequent use of bitewal x-rays have been found to increase the risk between 1.4 to 1.9 times than the rest. Bitewal x-rays are carried out to detect the severity of tooth decay and any bone loss due to gum diseases. Panorex x-rays are found to create the most damage, and has more than five times chances of causing meningioma in the future. These x-rays are not supposed to be carried out on children under 10 years

The journal article "Radiation Protection in Computed Tomography imaging" wrote by Jason Bond, R.T. (R). Radiologic Technology published the article in July/August 2016. In the article, the author addressed radiation protection methods in Computed Tomography Imaging. The author believes best CT image and achieve ALARA, require proper competency of the radiologic technologists and personnel. The author highlighted the importance of proper training, be familiar with dose-saving features and staying competency in lower radiation dose. The author stated the importance of lower radiation dose in Computed Tomography Imaging by comparing the chest CT exposure dose to a routine chest radiograph. "A routine chest radiography, for example, delivers a dose of approximately 0.02 mSv to the patient, whereas a chest CT delivers a dose of approximately 8 mSv, a 400-fold increase between the 2 modalities (Bond, July/ August 2016)." The author using qualitative data support and summarized the effective methods of radiation protection methods in Computed Tomography Imaging. The author using the recent reference to back up his hypothesis, all reference was chosen is within five years. The author concluded, to achieve

Since the inception of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, regular six monthly check ups at the general dental practice have been common (REF). However the patient should not have radiographs taken routinely based solely because of time elapsed since previous examination. X-rays should only be taken after a thorough clinical examination and would be justified after a caries risk assessment was undertaken with the patient categorised as being high, moderate or low caries risk (REF).

The effects of radiation can be hazardous to any part of the human body. In this guide I will explain the advantages, and disadvantages of x-ray radiation. I will also discuss the technological advances that we have today then of what we had the past on the human body during radiation exposure. I will explain preventions of exposure and safety precautions that we as dental assistants as well as patients can follow to stay safe.