Dental X-Rays During Pregnancy May Affect Infant Birth Weight

There's no need to fear most types of routine dental care if you're pregnant - in fact, regular tooth brushing, flossing, and dental cleanings keep your teeth and gums healthy and are safe when you're expecting. But you may want to delay dental X-rays until after delivery, say doctors from the University of Washington in Seattle, due to an increased risk of giving birth to low birth weight babies in women who had dental X-rays during pregnancy.

Using 7 years of Washington Dental Services records, researchers studied a group of 1,117 women who gave birth to babies weighing less than 5.5 pounds (2,500 grams). These babies are classified as low birth weight. Researchers examined the amount of dental radiation each baby was exposed to during gestation, and each low birth weight infant was compared to normal birth weight infants.

Women with low birth weight babies were more often exposed to dental radiation during pregnancy, compared to women who gave birth to normal weight infants. Women who had extensive dental X-rays during pregnancy had nearly three times the risk of having a low birth weight baby, even if the baby was full-term.

What This Means to You: Even though the amount of dental radiation exposure of the fetus is small, dental radiation may be linked to low birth weight. Avoiding elective and unnecessary dental X-rays may be advisable for pregnant women, but don't make that choice alone. Talk to your doctor and your dentist to weigh the risks and benefits of dental X-rays during your pregnancy.

Source: Philippe P. Hujoel, PhD; Anne-Marie Bollen, PhD; Carolyn J. Noonan, MS; Michael A. del Aguila, PhD; Journal of the American Medical Association, April 28, 2004.

Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: June 2004

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