Comparison of patient radiation dose between two panoramic devices and full-mouth intraoral series

This study directly measured and compared radiation doses from two panoramic units and a full-mouth periapical examination (FMX) using a structured dose-assessment pathway that encompassed site-specific absorbed dose (D M ), tissue-absorbed dose (D T ), equivalent dose (H T ), fraction-applied equivalent dose (H F ), effective-dose components (E C ), and effective dose.A Rando Alderson Radiation Therapy-300 phantom equipped with 30 thermoluminescent dosimeter sites was exposed using ProMax, OP100, and a 14-image FMX protocol.D M values were sequentially converted to D T , H T , H F , and E C using International Commission on Radiological Protection 103 tissue-weighting factors (W T ).Because the analysis included only head-and-neck tissues, the total W T applied for effective dose calculation was 0.36.Panoramic imaging demonstrated the highest D M in the posterolateral head-and-neck region, particularly in the parotid glands, submandibular glands, and mandibular ramus, with marked right-left asymmetry observed in ProMax.In contrast, FMX generated 50-100-fold higher localized dose peaks in the cheek and mandibular body.Although the calculated effective doses were comparable (27.2 Sv for ProMax, 18.0 Sv for OP100, and 17.2 Sv for FMX), dose distributions differed substantially as a function of the exposure geometry.Panoramic imaging showed broader high-dose regions surrounding the salivary glands and ramus, whereas FMX produced more concentrated local maxima.These findings highlight the importance of precise geometric characterization for modality-specific dose optimization and dose indexing.