Stenström B, Henrikson C O, Karlsson L, Sarby B
Swed Dent J. 1987;11(1-2):71-7.
By means of available data of mean organ doses from intraoral radiography the effective dose equivalent from dental radiography was calculated. The dose values used correspond to 65 kVp, 0.2 m FSD and 20 exposures with film in speed group D. The effective dose equivalent was calculated for circular (55 mm diameter) as well as rectangular collimator (35 mm X 44 mm) and amounted to 0.23 and 0.14 mSv, respectively. In comparison with the annual natural radiation the corresponding time would be 6 and 3 weeks, respectively. Following the definition of the effective dose equivalent by ICRP (1977) it was found that the most radiosensitive organs contributed 20-25 per cent of the total effective dose equivalent. The organs with the highest weighting factors thus received very small or negligible dose equivalents. The calculation necessitates a detailed knowledge of the absorbed doses and the weighting factors, which made the application for dental radiography somewhat uncertain. The concept of energy imparted might be a more direct measure to compare the risk from different examinations in dental radiography.
