Investigation of Patient Dose Received During Digital Dental Radiography and Comparison with International Diagnostic Reference Level (DRL)

Abstract

Patient exposure from digital dental radiography has increased rapidly and contributes to one of the major sources for radiation doses received in diagnostic radiology. Therefore, assessment on patient dose is crucially important for dose optimisation and justification. However, there are currently no national diagnostic reference level (NDRL) has been established in Malaysia for dental radiography. This study was aimed to evaluate the patient doses received from digital dental radiography which includes orthopantomogram (OPG), cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), and cephalometric examinations at Advanced Medical and Dental Institute (AMDI), Malaysia and serves as preliminary work in establishment of local DRL. The data of dose-area product (DAP) values for all dental examinations performed were gathered started from May 2015 until March 2017. For comparative study, the third quartiles for each examination were determined and compared with the international DRL. A total of 684 cases, consisting of OPG (67%), CBCT (6%), and cephalometric examinations (27%) performed during that period. The DAP values were ranged between 47.4 and 363.2 mGy cm2 for OPG, 392.4 and 1254.4 mGy cm2 for CBCT, and 17.4 and 33.3 mGy cm2 for cephalometric procedure. From the results, it showed that patient dose mainly depends on image acquisition protocol. Patient dose assessment is significant for radiation protection management in clinical practice.