Thyroid dose distribution in dental radiography.

The anatomic position and proven radiosensitivity of the thyroid gland make it an organ of concern in dental radiography. A calibrated thermoluminescent dosimetry system was used to investigate the absorbed dose (microGy) to the thyroid gland resultant from a minimum irradiated volume, intraoral full-mouth radiography technique with the use of rectangular collimation with a lead-backed image receptor, and conventional panoramic radiography performed with front and rear lead aprons. Use of the minimum irradiated volume technique resulted in a significantly decreased absorbed dose over the entire thyroid region ranging from 100% to 350% (p less than 0.05). Because this intraoral technique results in radiographs with greater image quality and also exposes the thyroid gland to less radiation than the panoramic, this technique may be an alternative to the panoramic procedure.