Local Diagnostic Reference Levels for Intraoral and Panoramic X-ray Examinations in Government Dental Centers in Abu Dhabi

Abstract

Background: With an enormous rise in the number of clinics and health facilities in the United Arab Emirates providing treatments or cosmetic gum surgery procedures to patients, there is an urgent need to create Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRLs) in dentistry. As a result, this study aims to determine the local DRLs for pediatric and adult patients undergoing intraoral and panoramic dental examinations at government dental centers in the Abu Dhabi region.

Methods: This study measured the incident air kerma (K_a, _i) using radiographic exposure parameters for intraoral dental radiography. It also collected dose area product (DAP) values for actual patients from the panoramic unit system to establish diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for both.

Results: Recommended DRL values for intraoral radiography of the adult maxillary incisor, adult mandibular molar, adult bitewing X-ray, pediatric maxillary incisor, and pediatric mandibular molar are 0.714, 0.837, 1.042, 0.343, and 0.365 mGy, respectively. Also, the DRLs for dental panoramic radiography for pediatric and adult patients are 39.19 and 68.59 (mGy cm²), respectively.

Conclusion: After this initial study, we will create a standardized benchmark and propose an update on national diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for intraoral and panoramic radiography in dentistry for other areas of the UAE.