Ambient dose during intraoral radiography with current techniques: Part 1 Conversion factor for scattered radiation using a rectangular collimator

Objectives: The aim of this study was to establish a conversion factor for assessing the scattered radiation produced during intraoral radiography with a rectangular collimator in areas where the remnant beam is not present. The dose level in the remnant beam will be addressed in another study.
Methods: A radiological phantom (Rando) in the upright position was exposed to radiation delivered by a Planmeca Intra X-ray unit over 9 exposure geometries (right side of a full mouth series). For each geometry, the scattered radiation dose was measured at 5 locations in the horizontal plane and 4 locations in the vertical plane in front of the patient. The measurements were corrected for background and leakage radiation. An inventory of the distributions of the different geometries with respect to their share of the total workload was created in order to assign the correct weightings of the total ambient scattered radiation for the different geometries. The weightings were used to construct a scattered radiation pattern for a representative mix of exposures. The maximum value found in this pattern was used to arrive at a safe conversion factor. Results: The scattered ambient radiation dose was evenly distributed over the horizontal plane. The scattered ambient radiation dose ranged from 20 to 65% lower in the vertical plane. Conclusions: The conversion factor established for scattered ambient radiation was 0.05 µSv per mAs at 1 meter. This factor is 3-fold lower than the conversion factors reported previously.