Has your child's orthodontist done (or asked to do) a head CT prior to starting treatment?

[Anonymous]

Ortho is saying this is standard procedure before starting braces. They have a CT machine in their office.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't do allow it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/us/23scan.html?pagewanted=all

[Anonymous]

? I've never heard of that but we've only just begun to enter the world of orthodontics (shudder). At the very least I would want to know why the orthodontist thought the CT specifically necessary for *my child*.

Routine CT scans? Is there such a thing?

[Anonymous]

A CT has something like 30 times the radiation of an xray. No way would I let them do it. They're just making money off that machine in their office. Unconscionable.

[Anonymous]

I don't know how old your child is, but a few months back, one of mine had a serious condition that would have been easily diagnosable/ruled out with a CT scan. Not a single doctor would perform one due to the amount of radiation. It took several days and a hospital stay to get a diagnosis. That's how serious the medical professionals were about not giving kids CT scans.

And, I do have kids with braces. Never was I asked to allow a CT scan and never would I agree to one after my experience and conversations with the doctors.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of this. I wouldn't do it if the only justification is "standard procedure."

[Anonymous]

Are you kidding? I would report them to the state health department and the licensing board. My son wasn't even given a CT in the ER after he had a head injury and needed stitches, because the ER doc said the risk of radiation exposure was not worth it given the history of the head injury and exam findings. That orthodontist is a quack and the authorities need to know about it.

[Anonymous]

I'd ask the pediatrician about this. Repeated head CTs in childhood have been associated with increased risk of cancer, and possibly with cognitive problems, although I'm not sure how well the latter has been studied. Everyone seems to agree the benefit of catching head trauma is worth it, but I don't know about braces.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14703539


http://healthland.time.com/2013/05/22/to-scan-or-not-to-scan-largest-study-to-date-links-childhood-cts-to-increased-cancer-risk/

[Anonymous]

Are you sure they are talking about a CT, not just a panoramic x-ray????? a Panoramic is standard procedure. I can't imagine them having a CT machine in their office and giving every kid CT.

[Anonymous]

I suspect the ortho was just asking for a panoramic x-ray. Please check again and report back. I know a child who had a brain tumor and the follow-up is always MRIs, nit CT scans, because of the radiation in CT scans.

[Anonymous]

No. And there needs to be an EXTREMELY good reason before allowing a CT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:? I've never heard of that but we've only just begun to enter the world of orthodontics (shudder). At the very least I would want to know why the orthodontist thought the CT specifically necessary for *my child*.

Routine CT scans? Is there such a thing?

The only people who get routine CTs have some very serious and possibly fatal illness. (Like my husband who gets on of his trunk every year to make sure his cancer isn't back, and yes, it does increase the probability that he will get cancer as a result but it decreases the probability that it won't be discovered too late to treat.) THAT is a reason for a regular CT - Braces? No.

[Anonymous]

Here is a list of types of X-rays that OP might be taking about.


http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/mobileart.asp?articlekey=90969&page=2

It could be CT - let us know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is a list of types of X-rays that OP might be taking about.


http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/mobileart.asp?articlekey=90969&page=2

It could be CT - let us know?

Pp again. It's probably the cephalometric.

[Anonymous]

Re: the cephalometric. Our orth. surgeon used this "whole head" x-ray to determine whether or not it was safe to remove our son's wisdom teeth. The machine is amazing, new within the last five years. and costs an ortho. surgeon almost 500K to acquire so not all have them. The reason I am posting is that the ortho surgeon (not the orthodontist) was able to show me why it was safe to have our son's wisdom teeth pulled but not our daughter's. In her case, our orthodontist had failed to tell us it was time - at any time throughout the orthodontics process - to remove the wisdom teeth. By the time we were having a tooth pulled on our son and the ortho surgeon said "Well, while we are doing that we might as well take out his wisdom teeth", I thought we should have daughter's checked inasmuch as the orthodontist had said nothing about wisdom teeth removal and daughter was older.

The ortho. surgeon used this particular x-ray and determined that the roots of her wisdom teeth had grown too close to the nerves and that he could not guarantee removal without partial paralysis. I'm very grateful to him that he had the cephalometric machine and was able to do this exam. It is costly - about $300 and our insurance wouldn't cover it but the ortho. surgeon offered to do both exams for less. Very well worth it. Son had the wisdom teeth pulled but daughter did not. And now daughter's teeth are moving because the wisdom teeth are growing in so all that ortho. work is for naught.

So if you are going to a very busy orthodontist, please think to ask them when in the process your child should be evaluated for wisdom teeth removal. Ours never did and we are paying the price because daughter's teeth are shifting.