Doses to critical organs from dental radiography

Participants in the jointly sponsored Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission and Japanese National Institute of Health (ABCC-JNIH) Adult Health Study, a fixed-population sample under continual observation for late effects of the atomic bombs, are also being evaluated for their exposure to other sources of ionizing radiation. In the present study, the subjects' thyroid, lens, pituitary, bone marrow, and gonadal doses acquired during dental radiography were estimated from dosimetry of simulated human material exposed according to technical factors as ascertained in previously reported surveys of patients, dental clinics and hospitals, and dosimetry with phantom human material containing lithium fluoride thermoluminescence dosimeters and ionization chambers. Dental radiography comprised a relatively small segment of the contaminating sources of ionizing radiation exposure among this population sample. Efforts should be made to improve exposure conditions, especially in view of the increasing frequency of dental x-ray examinations.