title: Mortality among sons of female dental personnel--a national cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dental personnel are exposed to mercury when using dental amalgam. This exposure constitutes a potential hazard to offspring of women working in dentistry. The present study examined increased mortality risk in offspring of mothers working in dentistry.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mortality was compared between sons of dental personnel and sons of nondental health-care personnel. Hazard ratios were calculated for three decades (1960s-1980s), when the magnitude of mercury exposure in dentistry was likely to have varied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the 1960s, there was a statistically significant increase in the risk of neonatal mortality for sons of dental nurses when compared with sons of assistant nurses: hazard ratio (HR) 1.82 (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.04-3.22). There was no increased risk in the subsequent decades, but a trend test demonstrated a consistent decrease in the risk over the three decades: HR for trend 0.63 (95% CI: 0.44-0.90). The raised mortality risk was limited to neonatal mortality. The comparison between dentists and physicians had insufficient statistical power.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is no increased mortality risk among sons of female dentists after the 1960s. Although the results should be interpreted with caution, they suggest a modestly raised risk of neonatal mortality, during the 1960s, when exposure to mercury was thought to be highest.
authors.forename: Aron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naimi-Akbar
authors.forename: Gunilla
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sandborgh-Englund
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ekbom
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ekstrand
authors.forename: Peggy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Näsman
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montgomery
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D046688:Child Mortality / Q000266:history; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003723:Dental Amalgam / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000266:history; D003727:Dental Auxiliaries; D003815:Dentists; D005260:Female; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality / Q000266:history; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000266:history; D009026:Mortality / Q000266:history; D009679:Nuclear Family; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000266:history; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000266:history / Q000401:mortality; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D003723:Dental Amalgam; D008628:Mercury