Radiation Dose and Image Quality in Various Examinations and Imaging Modes of Dentomaxillofacial Cone Beam Computed Tomography

Cone-beam computed tomography is used for specialized imaging of dental and maxillofacial structures. CBCTs capabilities and facilities for dental and maxillofacial imaging have resulted in their increasing clinical use. Although the dose of CBCT tests is low, its widespread use increases the cumulative dose. This study was conducted to evaluate head and neck effective dose and image quality in different organs for various exposure techniques in CBCT imaging.

This study was performed on various CBCT imaging examinations. Head and neck parts of anthropomorphic male Rando® Alderson Phantom and thermoluminescent dosimeters were used for organ dosimetry. Contrast to noise ratio and signal to noise ratio were evaluated for image quality assessments. For this purpose, the region of the tooth and soft tissue images were randomly used as the basis.

Mean effective dose for face and paranasal sinuses imaging in three modes (  standard, low-dose, ultra-low dose), temporomandibular imaging in two modes(standard & low dose), and dental imaging in implant and endo imaging modes was equal to 382.17, 193.97, 79.96, 262.6, 135.67, 53.93, 682.83, 335.75, 184.18, and 234.57 μSv, respectively.Signal -to -noise ratio (SNR) for the above-mentioned procedures was equal to 6.04, 5.73, 3.71, 6.3, 6.00, 4.08, 14.2, 12.3, 7.51, and 6.97, respectively.

The present study showed, when low dose and ultra-low-dose modes are chosen, the patient's dose will be severely reduced in most CBCT procedures. Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and SNR will diminish too, but they are sufficient for some diagnostic purposes.