Get Your Teeth Cleaned and Screen for Osteoporosis at the Same Time
January 20, 2007 by Kristen King
Filed under Women's Health
UK dental experts have developed software that can screen dental x-rays for signs of osteoporosis in women, reports WebMD:
“The value of our method is that dentists take millions of these X-rays every year for ordinary dental reasons and they contain useful information that isn’t being used,” [one of the programmers] says.
“People may be apparently healthy and never visit their family doctor, but often regularly go to their dentist for checkups.”
The software isn’t yet available to dentists, but it’s in the works. Next time you get your teeth cleaned (and you do go to the dentist regularly, right?), ask your dentist or dental hygienist about it.
And in the meantime, continue taking your calcium supplements daily.
Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King
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