Comparative Study of the Effective Dose from Panoramic Radiography in Dentistry Measured Using a Radiophotoluminescent Glass Dosimeter and an Optically Stimulated Luminescence Detector

Abstract

Accurate measurement of the absorbed dose and the effective dose is required in dental panoramic radiography involving relatively low energy with a rotational X-ray tube system using long exposures. To determine the effectiveness of measuring the irradiation by using passive dosimetry, we compared the entrance skin doses by using a radiophotoluminescent glass dosimeter (RPL) and an optically stimulated luminescence detector (OSL) in a phantom model consisting of nine and 31 transverse sections. The parameters of the panoramic device were set to 80 kV, 4 mA, and 12 s in the standard program mode. The X-ray spectrum was applied in the same manner as the panoramic dose by using the SpekCalc Software. The results indicated a mass attenuation coefficient of 0.008226 cm2/g, and an effective energy of 34 keV. The equivalent dose between the RPL and the OSL was calculated based on a product of the absorbed doses. The density of the aluminum attenuators was 2.699 g/cm3. During the panoramic examination, tissue absorption doses with regard to the RPL were a surface dose of 75.33 μGy and a depth dose of 71.77 μGy, those with regard to the OSL were surface dose of 9.2 μGy a depth dose of 70.39 μGy and a mean dose of 74.79 μGy. The effective dose based on the International Commission on Radiological Protection Publication 103 tissue weighting factor for the RPL were 0.742 μSv, 8.9 μSv, 2.96 μSv and those for the OSL were 0.754 μSv, 9.05 μSv, and 3.018 μSv in the parotid and sublingual glands, orbit, and thyroid gland, respectively. The RPL was more effective than the OSL for measuring the absorbed radiation dose in low-energy systems with a rotational X-ray tube.