Dentist

Here's another question: Can a pregnant lady go to the dentist? What about the x-rays?

We have a dental checkup coming up next week. Since we were already talking about airport scanners and such, R wondered if there were any concerns regarding the x-ray machines at the dentist's office. Lucky for her, babycenter.com has the answer.

I was interested to learn that there has been a correlation between gum disease and early/low-weight babies. Who would have thought? The experts can't explain the correlation, but they use the data to explain why you should go in for your scheduled cleaning and not put it off.

You don't have to worry too much about the x-rays. According to another article, "fetal exposure to more than 10 rads (the unit of measurement for absorbed radiation) has been shown to increase the risks for mental retardation and eye abnormalities." A diagnostic x-ray usually is less than 5 rads; however, the baby only absorbs a portion of that. A baby would absorb 0.01 millirads as a result of a dental x-ray. During the course of a pregnancy, a baby gets 100 millirads of radiation from the sun and earth, so the dental x-ray is not a major concern.

I've had a lot of x-rays before. I've had x-rays on my nose, chest, arms, hands, feet, lungs, knees... you name it. Sports injuries, mainly. R says that she's never had an x-ray other than the one at the dentist's office. I feel kind of sorry for her. She's really been shortchanged on rads all these years.