Patient exposure trends in medical and dental radiography

Patient exposure to medical and dental x rays has long been of interest to the radiological health community. With the cooperation of state and local agencies and professional groups, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health has conducted three major surveys of patient exposure to x rays. The latest of these surveys, the Nationwide Evaluation of X-ray Trends (NEXT), collected x-ray exposure data for each year starting in 1972. Two earlier studies, the 1964 and 1970 X-ray Exposure Studies collected x-ray data during the years these surveys were conducted. Exposure trends presented are based on results of all three studies. Major improvements in beam limitation are seen for medical and dental radiography. Since 1964, when the first nationwide survey was conducted, dental exposures have decreased about 75%. Decreases of up to one-third occurred in exposures for medical examinations. The current exposure data presented continue to show a wide variation in medical exposures. Also presented are organ doses for four organs (ovaries, testes, thyroid and active bone marrow).