While scintillation dosimetry has been around for decades, the need for a dosimeter tailored to the reality of modern radiation therapy-in particular a real-time, water-equivalent, energy-independent dosimeter with high spatial resolution-has generated renewed interest in scintillators over the last 10 years. With the advent of at least one commercial plastic scintillation dosimeter and the ever-growing scientific literature on this subject, this topical review is intended to provide the medical physics community with a wide overview of scintillation physics, related optical concepts, and applications of plastic scintillation dosimetry.