Estimating and comparing the radiation cancer riskfrom cone-beam computed tomography andpanoramic radiography in pediatric and adultpatients

Background: this study aimed to estimate and compare the absorbed dose,lifetime cancer risk and mortalities due to cone-beam computed tomography(cbct) and panoramic examinations on patients. materials and methods: theexposure factors were applied to 332 patients in two age groups (6-10, and˃18-year-old). the dose-area product (dap) values were measured for cbctand panoramic radiographies. organ absorbed doses and effective doseswere calculated based on the collected parameters applying pcxmc software.the risk of exposure-induced death (reid) and cancer risks were estimated bybeir vii phase 2 model at different age groups and genders for the two dentalradiography modalities. results: salivary glands was the largest contributionof the organ absorbed dose and effective dose in both cbct and panoramicradiographies. the mean (±sd) reid values (per ten million) in cbct wereobtained at 35.6±5.2 for females and 29.01±1.8 for males, in the pediatricgroup, and were 31.1±2.2 for females and 25.71±2.02 for males in the adultgroup for all cancers. in addition, these values for panoramic radiographywere 10.2±1.2 and 6.61±1.2 for women and men, respectively, in thepediatric group, and were 5.3±1.06 and 3.01±1.12 in the adult group. themean reid values were higher significantly in cbct compared to panoramic,and also in the pediatric than adult groups (p˂0.05). conclusion: cbct had asignificantly higher level of radiation risks compared to panoramicradiography. therefore, clinicians should request cbct examinations byconsidering their determents and benefits.