RADIATION DOSE FROM DENTAL RADIOGRAPHY IN INDONESIA: A FIVE-YEAR SURVEY

Area of Science:

• Radiological Sciences
• Medical Physics
• Public Health

Background:

• Dental radiography is widely used, necessitating radiation dose monitoring.
• Establishing dose benchmarks is crucial for patient safety and optimizing equipment performance.
• Indonesia lacks established national diagnostic reference levels for dental X-ray equipment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze dose metrics from intraoral and panoramic dental radiography equipment.
• To preliminarily indicate dose trends for dental radiology equipment in Indonesia.
• To provide data for future national diagnostic reference level establishment.

Main Methods:

• Dose measurements were conducted in 71 Indonesian healthcare institutions.
• A total of 92 dental X-ray devices (intraoral and panoramic) were assessed.
• Imaging modes were classified as 'low dose' or 'high dose' based on the procedure.

Main Results:

• The 75th percentile for intraoral entrance surface air kerma (ESAK) was 2.8 mGy (low dose) and 4.3 mGy (high dose).
• For panoramic radiography, the 75th percentile for dose-area product (DAP) was 85.2 mGy cm² (low dose) and 192.4 mGy cm² (high dose).
• 38.8% of analogue and 6.3% of digital intraoral devices exceeded local regulatory dose recommendations.

Conclusions:

• The study provides preliminary dose trends for dental radiology in Indonesia.
• Findings indicate a need to review and potentially update local regulatory recommendations.
• The data serves as a reference for establishing national diagnostic reference levels for dental X-ray procedures.