Survey of quality control of panoramic X-ray machines in private dental clinics in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the compliance of private dental clinics operating panoramic X-ray machines in Saudi Arabia with the quality control (QC) requirements. Sixty-four private dental clinics in different areas of Saudi Arabia were selected to participate in the study. Quality control tests were performed on 64 panoramic X-ray machines from different manufacturers. In this study, kilovoltage accuracy, kilovoltage reproducibility, exposure time reproducibility, beam quality in terms of half-value layer (HVL), beam alignment and collimation, leakage, and scatter survey were evaluated for all 64 machines. Of the surveyed machines, 17% did not pass the kilovoltage accuracy test while passing the rest of the quality control (QC) tests. The average deviation from the nominal kV settings was 16.8% (±2.4%). The remaining machines (83%) were within acceptable limits and passed all quality control (QC) tests. Establishing a QC program in private dental clinics operating radiation-producing machines such as panoramic x-ray machines is essential to ensure their compliance with the national standards for radiation safety. Extra attention should be paid to the accuracy of the machine kilovoltage as it was a significant cause of machine failure in QC testing in this study.