Dental radiography regulations help to protect patients and radiographers during X-ray procedures.
Dental radiography involves radiographs of teeth and surrounding structures by the exposure of film to X-rays. Dental radiographs are important tools dentists use to diagnose oral problems they otherwise cannot detect during a basic examination.
Radiation Legislation
Radiation safety legislation exists at the state and federal level to protect people from the hazards of radiation, according to Dental Radiography Principles and Techniques. Major effects of radiation exposure include cancer or even cataracts. The Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act was made official in 1968 to standardize the performance of X-ray equipment. The Consumer-Patient Radiation Health and Safety Act in 1981 began to cover education and certification of professionals who use dental radiographic equipment.
In some states, dental radiographers today must pass a radiation safety examination before exposing dental X-ray films.
Practice/Equipment Regulations
Dental radiographs must be performed only at the suggestion of a dentist and only by a legally qualified health care professional, according to Tufts University. The American Dental Association, in conjunction with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has adopted guidelines for prescribing the number, type and frequency of dental radiographs taken of patients. The ADA also discourages the use of short, closed, pointed X-ray cones---or position-indicating devices---because these devices can result in higher amounts of dangerous scatter radiation.
Rectangular collimators---or lead plates with a hole in the middle that fit over X-ray machine openings---actually reduce the area of a patient's body that is exposed to radiation. Federal regulations require that X-ray beams be collimated to a diameter of no more than 2.75 inches when a dental radiographer is using less-preferred circular collimators.
Exposure Protection
A dental X-ray unit operator must stand at an angle of 90 to 135 degrees to the primary beam of an X-ray or behind a protective barrier with a window that allows the operator to still view the patient. These operators essentially should stand 6 feet from the tubehead of an X-ray machine. No one should be in the exam room during dental radiograph exposure except for the patient. In addition, dental radiographers should place lead aprons with thyroid gland collars on patients to reduce their exposure.
Dental radiographers additionally must monitor dental X-ray machines for leakage radiation by using a film device available through state health departments or dental X-ray equipment manufacturers.
Permissible Dose
The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements defines the "maximum permissible dose" as the greatest amount of radiation a person should receive in a particular period without causing injury. Dental radiographers should not be exposed to more than 5.0 rems a year, with a rem being a special unit of measurement used in dental radiography. For members of the general public who do not work regularly around dental X-ray equipment and pregnant women who work as dental radiographers, the established maximum permissible dose is 0.5 rems a year. Dental radiographers can track their exposure using a film badge, a personnel-monitoring device available through film badge service companies.
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