Head-and-neck organ doses from an episode of orthodontic care.

Introduction: The high prevalence of orthodontic treatment in young people makes the associated radiation to the head and neck of potential public-health significance. In this study, we estimated secular changes (1963-2003) in age-specific organ doses associated with orthodontic care and collective organ doses in the United States in 1999.

Methods: A survey of radiographic records at 1 university clinic was combined with published estimates to provide organ-specific radiation doses.

Radiographs associated with one episode of orthodontic therapy.

Obtaining lifetime diagnostic radiation histories in head and neck cancer studies is often challenging due to the almost universal lack of centralized registries on X-ray utilization in medicine and dentistry. Both the common nature of orthodontics and the young age at which orthodontics typically occurs make it important to quantify what diagnostic radiographs are typically taken during orthodontic therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the number and type of radiographic films associated with one episode of orthodontic therapy in an educational setting.

Thyroid shields and neck exposures in cephalometric radiography.

Background: The thyroid is among the more radiosensitive organs in the body. The goal of this study was twofold: (1) to evaluate age-related changes in what is exposed to ionizing radiation in the neck area, and (2) to assess thyroid shield presence in cephalometric radiographs

Methods: Cephalometric radiographs at one academic setting were sampled and neck exposure was related to calendar year and patient's gender and age.

Results: In the absence of shields, children have more vertebrae exposed than adults (p < 0.