Dr. Oz is at it again!

So I was in my office the other day and an assistant said that a patient was in the chair and was refusing to get any dental x-rays.  Dentists use x-rays to determine certain disease states of the tooth (gum disease, cavities, infections, cancer, etc.).  It becomes a legal and ethical issue when a patient refuses x-rays—a dentist need to see an x-ray before he can make a diagnosis—very similar to a car mechanic having to open the hood of a car to see the engine and make his/her diagnosis--A dentist cannot treat what he/she cannot see (a dental x-ray provides a complete picture of the tooth).  I went to talk to the patient about why we need x-rays and she told me that Dr. Oz did not recommend them because they cause thyroid cancer!  Whaaaaaaaat?!?!

Dr. Oz is as much of a dentist as I am a heart surgeon.  He has zero training in dentistry, how can he make sure a claim that dental x-rays cause thyroid cancer?  Well, Dr. Oz decided to focus on a small study, consisting of 313 patients, in Kuwait.  First of all, that is a very, very, very small study group to even make such a claim.  Kuwait has free dental care and it was found that they have an increase risk in thyroid cancer compared to Britain.  They documented people with thyroid cancer based on “self-reporting”—a record of dental x-rays and how many each participant received were never reported.  So hold on a minute, we don’t even know how many or how often dental x-rays were even taken?!?! 

Let’s try to show how this study lacks an understanding on how the scientific method works.  Let’s say I put a bunch of rats in a room, say 313 rats.  Now, we allow the rats to drink as much apple juice as they like.  We keep NO RECORD of how much they drank or how often they drank.  All of the rats died in the study.  Conclusion, apply juice is lethal, don’t drink apple juice.  And if the grocery store tries to push apple juice on you with coupons, make sure to bring it to their attention that apple juice kills according to the best doctor in the country, he is on TV for Pete’s sake!  In science, correlation does not equal causation. 

It would be very difficult to prove that apple juice kills and, in my opinion, even more difficult to put it on national television and sell it to the people—apparently not, Dr. Oz does, in fact, treat Oprah.  Dr. Oz has already been slammed by other doctors for warning about arsenic in apple juice (hence the apple juice story above). 

I know that I am ranting and raving but I’m just tired of Dr. Oz talking about something that he has no business talking about.  If he was willing to inform patients about actual radiation from dental x-rays, he’d gain my respect.  Here’s the truth about dental x-rays, something you can look up research on and make an informed decision.  Radiation surrounds us every day, especially from the Sun and other stars.  If you decide to take an airplane flight from California to New York, you will receive that same amount of radiation you get from yearly x-rays.  A yearly x-ray exam produces 0.008 millisieverts of radiation. Everyday normal life causes you to be exposed to 2.4 millisieverts—so walking your dog, doing house work, etc. all cause you to be exposed to natural radiation.  If we do the math, you get 300 times MORE radiation from just being alive and walking around than you do from dental x-rays in any given year.

Next on the Dr. Oz show:  Don’t take a flight from California to New York, the natural radiation will cause you to have cancer J.  I don’t make these kinds of claims and I think Dr. Oz should stick to what he knows, heart surgery.  Have a good holiday season!

Your Albuquerque Dentist,

Dr.Devin Giron, DDS

www.yourabqdentist.com