Reference doses in dental radiodiagnostic facilities.

The present work describes an experiment undertaken using thermoluminescent dosemeters to obtain a local reference dose level in orthopantomography, based on patient measurements in 11 dentistry installations. In addition, a critical audit of the dose recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency for intraoral X-ray diagnostics is performed, based on data gathered from over 300 intraoral X-ray facilities. The provisional local reference levels proposed are 0.7 mGy entrance surface dose at the occipital region for orthopantomography and 3.5 mGy entrance surface dose for intraoral radiology.