Dental x-rays during pregnancy triples risk of having a low-birth weight baby

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 28 Apr 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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If a pregnant woman has a dental x-ray she is three times more likely to have a low birth weight baby than a woman who did not have a dental x-ray, say researchers.

Researchers at Washington University School of Dentistry, Seattle, USA, looked at 4,500 women and found that those who had had dental x-rays were more likely to have babies who weigh under five pounds.

Given that the amount of radiation a person is exposed to during an x-ray is very low, the researchers were quite surprised by their findings. Pregnant women are currently allowed to have very low-dose radiotherapy to neck and head.

Philippe Hujoel, Ph.D., lead author, said "We don't know whether radiation affects neurohormonal mechanisms in the head and neck region, such as thyroid function, or whether factors unrelated to the X-rays are to blame."

In another study, women who received radiation for spine problems before they got pregnant were found to have an increased risk of having an underweight baby (at birth).

The researchers say that they need to carry out further studies.

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