Skin Radiation Dose of the Anterior and Posterior Mid-Body during Panoramic Radiography

Currently, panoramic radiography is very popular with dentists due to its proper cost and low radiation dose in terms of the data it provides. During the diagnosis and treatment process, a dentist should keep himself and the patient safe from the dangerous effects of ionizing radiation during radiography. Therefore, this study was undertaken to present a guideline for dentists and technicians for better patient protection. Materials &

In this cross-sectional, descriptive/analytical study, 4 calibrated TLDs were placed in appropriate positions within a holder and placed on the surface of a lead apron on the anterior and posterior aspects. One TLD was also placed in the environment as a control. One hundred patients, candidates for taking panoramic radiographs, wore the lead apron and underwent conventional panoramic radiography. Then the TLDs were sent for processing and the results were analyzed with repeated-measurements ANOVA, post hoc least significant difference, one-sample t-test and paired-samples t-test (α = 0.01).

TLDs that had undergone radiographic exposure 100 times showed the absorbed dose in millisievert unit. Skin dose on the postero-superior region (0.31) was the highest amount measured, followed by the absorption dose on the postero-inferior region (0.28), antero-inferior region (0.22), antero-superior region (0.19); the control TLD which was placed outside the room showed insignificant absorption dose.

In this study, the patients’ radiation doses were separately reported for the anterior and posterior mid-body regions. The skin absorbed dose in the posterior mid-body region was higher in comparison with the anterior region. Therefore, it is advisable for the patients to wear the lead apron like a coat on the posterior region.