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# Dental x-ray linked to thyroid cancer
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/dental_x-ray_linked_to_thyroid_cancer_1216120917/
- Published: 2012-12-15T10:16:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:05:23.000Z
- Description: A case-control study in Acta Oncologica found people exposed to high doses of dental x-rays had double the thyroid cancer risk of those with low exposure. The piece opens with Brooke Burke's thyroid cancer surgery and notes head and neck radiation is a known risk factor.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Environment, Health News, #vivvo-import

By Jimmy Downs

Saturday Dec 15, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Dancing with the stars co-host Brook Burke, 41, has reportedy undergone surgery and removed thyroid cancer and she said medical tests indicates she's free of the disease now.

Thyroid cancer like many other cancers can be more life-threatening when it strikes a person at a younger age. So just because doctors told her she is free of thyroid cancer, it does not mean she will be free of recurrence or metastatic cancer in the near future.

In the United States, more than 50,000 people are expected to be diagnosed with thyroid cancer each year and the disease kills about about 1800 annually.

One of the major risk factor that causes thyroid cancer is medical x-ray or gamma-radiation used to diagnose and treat cancer near the thyroid gland. That is, exposure of the head and neck to both low and high doses of radiation, particularly at young age is a certain risk for the disease.

A study in Acta Oncologica found evidence suggesting that even dental x-ray can cause thyroid cancer. Dental x-ray is generally believed to be safe because the dose of radiation is relatively small, compared with other medical procedures such as chest x-ray, mammogram screening, CT scan and cancer radiotherapy.

A. Memon A from Division of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Sussex, UK and colleagues conducted a case-control study and found individuals who were exposed to high doses of dental x-ray doubled the risk of thyroid cancer, compared with those with low exposure.

It should be kept in mind that the thyroid gland is highly susceptible to radiation carcinogenesis and any dose of radiation surely increases the risk, particularly at a younger age. The higher the dose of radiation, the higher the risk for developing thyroid cancer.

Memon et al. conducted the study to examine dental radiography, which dentists often claim the risk is minimal or dental radiation does not pose any cancer risk, on the risk of thyroid cancer.

The researchers found the risk of thyroid cancer was responsive to the dose, with high doses linked to high risk. And the association did not vary by age, gender, nationality, education status, or parity, meaning that radiation can cause thyroid cancer in all men and women.

The researchers concluded "exposure to dental x-rays, particularly multiple exposures, may be associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer; and warrant further study in settings where historical dental x-ray records may be available."

By all means, medical radiation should be avoided, a health observer suggests.