Evaluation of Factors Affecting Absorbed Dose, Optimization Methods and Patient Dose Reduction in Dental Cone Beam CT (CBCT)

Introduction: Nowadays the use of cone beam computed tomography in dental imaging is increasing, although this method has a much lower dose than conventional CT scans, it delivers a higher dose than the panoramic and periapical patients therefore, , the aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting the patients' dose in dental CBCTs and methods of optimizing and reducing the patients' dose. Various factors such as the use of thyroid collar, lead goggles, field size, device type, imaging parameters such as tube voltage and current, alternating or pulsed radiation; type, amount and shape of the filter, 360 degree or partial rotation of tube and scan time, can affect the absorbed dose of the patient in dental CT scans. Among these, the use of thyroid collar (42% reduction), lead goggles (6% reduction),the smallest possible field of view ( up to 90%), pulse irradiation, patient sitting position and 180o rotation angle instead of 360o (more than 50% reduction) cause significant reduction in the organ doses and effective dose of the patients. It should also be kept in mind that measures taken to reduce the patients' dose should not impair image quality and, depending on the patient's condition, the radiographer will select the dose reduction parameters without degrading the image quality.