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. 2023 Jan 20;13(3):394.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics13030394.

Frequency of Dental X-ray Diagnostics in Children and Adolescents: What Is the Radiation Exposure?

Christoph-Ludwig Hennig  1 , Ina Manuela Schüler  2 , Rebecca Scherbaum  3 , Rika Buschek  3 , Marcel Scheithauer  4 , Collin Jacobs  1 , Hans-Joachim Mentzel  3
Affiliations

Frequency of Dental X-ray Diagnostics in Children and Adolescents: What Is the Radiation Exposure?

Christoph-Ludwig Hennig et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

Children are exposed to ionizing radiation through radiographs during their development for various reasons. At present, there are no officially valid reference values for dental X-rays in children and adolescents for dental X-ray diagnostics. This study retrospectively examined 9680 extraoral dental radiographs in pediatric patients between 2002 and 2020. The aim was to analyze the radiation doses in pediatric patients, which indications were used, and whether there were specific age and gender differences. The evaluation showed that radiation doses were considered low, with dose area products of 2.2 cGy × cm2 for a lateral cephalogram, 14 cGy × cm2 for an orthopantomogram (OPG), and 45 cGy × cm2 for cone beam computer tomography (CBCT). This corresponds to an effective dose of 1.5 μSv for a lateral cephalogram, 7 μSv for an OPG, and 33.8 μSv for CBCT. Of the 9680 images, 78% were orthopantomograms, and only 0.4% were CBCT images. OPG has become more important over the years, as reflected in the indication. Approximately one-third of all extraoral exposures are orthodontic indications. Overall, the indications were similar for both genders. According to the dental indications, boys were X-rayed slightly more frequently than girls (54.5-45.5%). A future publication of dose guide values and corresponding guidelines is of high priority.

Keywords: dental X-ray diagnostic; frequency of dental X-ray by children; orthodontic X-ray diagnostic.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Shows examples of the extraoral dental X-ray images analyzed (Figure 1). Examples of the extraoral X-ray images analyzed: (a) CBCT, (b) lateral cephalogram, (c) OPG standard, (d) OPG without TMJ left and half OPG image, (e) OPG TMJ program, (f) OPG without TMJ right and left, (g) OPG child.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of dental X-ray examinations of children and adolescents at the University Hospital per year (* in the year 2020 between 1 January 2020 and 31 July).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of dental indications for radiography from 1 to 18 years of age.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Gender distribution of dental indications for radiographs from 1 to 18 years of age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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