Method for the Estimation of Effective Doses for Dental Intraoral and Panoramic Radiography

The doses of patients for the most common intraoral and panoramic radiographic dental studies were evaluated and compared with the published data. The range of median values of effective doses for intraoral examinations on the units with films detectors was from 3.5 to 8.2 mu Sv and for the units with digital detectors the corresponding range was from 1.2 to 2.5 mu Sv. For panoramic examinations median value of the effective dose was 22.9 mu Sv. The ranges without emissions for the examination of premolars of the upper jaw, molars of both jaws and occlusion have the substantial width. Results compared with published data indicated that the effective doses in St. Petersburg and the regional institutions are lower than the values obtained using standard round collimator and medium and high sensitivity films (class D and F, respectively), as well as lower dose levels in the European Commission Guidelines. However, the effective doses in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region are higher than those obtained using a square collimator and high-sensitivity films. The present study suggests the possibility of further optimization. Obtained dose values can be used as reference for local regulations concerning patient dose in dental radiography and preliminary value prior to the establishment of national diagnostic reference level