Dental X-rays show diseased carotid arteries:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Routine dental X-rays could be a valuable tool for detecting cancer in the carotid arteries of patients who have already had radiation treatment for cancers of the mouth, nasal passages or throat. Reporting in the March edition of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology and Endodontics, researchers from California and Massachusetts found that more than 20% of the irradiated patients had lesions detectable by dental X-rays compared with just 4.7% of the control patients. These findings were consistent with those using ultrasound. The results indicate that patients at risk of stroke from cancer linked to radiation can now be identified in the dentist's office, the trial concluded.