Radiation Guidelines

The FDA recommends that dental professionals:

• Discuss the rationale for the examination with the patient and/or parent to ensure a clear  understanding of benefits and risks.
• Reduce the number of inappropriate referrals (i.e., justify radiographic imaging exams):
• Determine if the examination is needed to answer a clinical question.
• Consider alternate exams that use less or no radiation exposure.
• Review the patient’s medical imaging history to avoid duplicate exams.
• Use exposure settings for dental CBCT exams that are optimized to provide the lowest radiation dose that yields an image quality adequate for diagnosis (i.e., radiation doses should be “as low as reasonably achievable”). The technique used should be chosen based on the clinical indication, patient size, and anatomical area scanned. Furthermore, the equipment should be properly maintained and tested.