Review UAE dental radiology dosimetry results for national DRLs establishment

Abstract

Establishment of the Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRLs) is required and essential for all radiology procedures including Dental Radiology. The objective of this study is to investigate pediatric and adult doses in different Dental Radiology modalities. It is also part of technical projects structured by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to evaluate and monitor patient radiation doses. In UAE dental centers, 85% of dental radiology units in operation are digital system. Total number of dental units involved in this survey is 122 Intra-Oral dental units and 16 Panoramic (OPG) dental units. All of the dental radiology units evaluated in this survey are digital. For Intra-Oral units measurements, Multi-O-Meter electronic dosimeters are used. Quality control tests are applied for all dental units involved in this study. Multi-O-Meter (Dental Unfors) and CT Cylindrical Ionization Chamber are used for OPG measurements. Molar examination which is the longest exposure time used in dental procedures is selected. Patient Entrance Dose, HVL, Exposure time and kVp are measured for adult and pediatric. DRLs in this review study were based on the average and 3rd Quartile dose value. The 3rd Quartile of patient entrance doses of intra oral dental were 0.880 mGy and 0.704 mGy for adult and pediatric, respectively. For OPG, the 3rd Quartile doses were 5.09 mGy and 3.49 mGy for adult and pediatric, respectively. The results of this review study are considered as initial UAE DRLs. These indicate that the dose level within the UAE are comparable to those published in the literature. It is required to expand our study to include further study for Cone Beam Dental CT. The study is in progress for further dose evaluation for digital intraoral and OPG units within the UAE.