Radiation exposure to children in intraoral dental radiology

In this study, dose area product (DAP) measurements have been performed aiming at establishing diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) in paediatric intraoral dental radiology. Measurements were carried out at 52 X-ray units for all types of intraoral examinations performed in clinical routine. Not all X-ray units have pre-set child exposure settings with reduced exposure time or in some cases lower tube voltage. Child examinations are carried out using adult exposure settings at these units, which increases the DAP third quartile values by up to 50%. For example, third quartile values for peri-apical examination ranges from 14.4 to 40.9 mGy cm2 for child settings and 20.6 to 48.8 mGy cm2 when the adult settings are included. The results show that there exists a large difference between the patient exposures among different dental facilities. It was also observed that clinics working with faster film type or higher tube voltage are not always associated with lower exposure. (authors)