Technical Report No. 9-86
Dental radiography exposure of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki populations
Antoku S, Hoshi M, Russell WJEditor’s note: A publication based on this report was published in Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol 67:354-60, 1989.
Summary
Dental radiography doses in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were estimated using doses measured by a thermoluminescent dosimeter and a phantom, and survey data from dental hospitals and clinics in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Doses to organs, including the lens, pituitary fossa, thyroid gland, and skin were calculated. Average doses per examination to these body sites were calculated using data obtained during a two-week survey in both cities. The mean caput doses were calculated from the data indicating frequency per year, and were tabulated by organ, age, teeth examined, type of examination, population, sex, and city. No significant difference was observed by age, population, sex, or city. Currently, the doses incurred during dental radiography may not be sufficiently high to cause bias in the assessments for late radiation effects among atomic bomb survivors. However, the mean caput thyroid doses of 62 mrad and 67 mrad in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, cannot be ignored from the standpoint of their potential in contributing to radiation-induced carcinogenesis.
Dental radiography doses in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were estimated using doses measured by a thermoluminescent dosimeter and a phantom, and survey data from dental hospitals and clinics in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Doses to organs, including the lens, pituitary fossa, thyroid gland, and skin were calculated. Average doses per examination to these body sites were calculated using data obtained during a two-week survey in both cities. The mean caput doses were calculated from the data indicating frequency per year, and were tabulated by organ, age, teeth examined, type of examination, population, sex, and city. No significant difference was observed by age, population, sex, or city. Currently, the doses incurred during dental radiography may not be sufficiently high to cause bias in the assessments for late radiation effects among atomic bomb survivors. However, the mean caput thyroid doses of 62 mrad and 67 mrad in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, cannot be ignored from the standpoint of their potential in contributing to radiation-induced carcinogenesis.