Radiation doses of commonly used dental radiographic surveys

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and to compare the radiation dose associated with commonly used dental radiographic surveys including the following: (1) 20 film full-mouth survey, (2) bite-wing radiographs, (3) panoramic survey supplemented with bite-wing radiographs and (4) a common orthodontic radiographic survey (a lateral cephlometric radiograph supplemented with a panoramic radiograph). The effects of collimation and faster radiographic film speeds on dose were also investigated. The effective doses to selected anatomic sites were calculated from measured absorbed doses with the use of an improved, tissue-equivalent phantom fitted with lithium fluoride thermoluminescent dosimeters. It was demonstrated that converting from round to rectangular collimation reduced the radiation exposure by a factor of four. A panoramic survey supplemented with bite-wing radiographs uses approximately one third of the radiation exposure needed to expose a full-mouth survey made with E-speed film and rectangular collimation.