Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate, the effect of the cranium structure on dose distribution by measuring the dose using the RANDO phantom for safe use of an X-ray unit during personal identification work at a large-scale disaster site.
Methods: As the subject, the head and neck of the RANDO Phantom (Alderson) containing a dry skull composed of a tissue-equivalent substance and having a shape similar to that of a living body were studied. With the body in the supine position, the air doses per second of irradiation time were measured for a total of six sections of the anterior, premolar, and molar teeth (molar on the left side) at a tube voltage of 60 kV and tube current of 10 mA during maxilla and mandible intraoral radiography.
Results: The region having the highest exposure dose was the main X-ray direction in both the mandible and maxilla. Conversely, the dose tended to be low in the range from the temporal region to the occipital region on both sides of the horizontal plane, from the frontal region to the occipital region of the sagittal plane, and in the parietal region of the frontal plane.
Conclusions: It would be preferable to examine from the top of the body where the dose tends to decrease for all imaging sites.
Keywords: Cranium structure; Dental exposure; Intraoral X-ray unit; Personal dental identification; Radiation protection.
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