Dosimetry of absorbed radiation in radiographic cephalometry.

Absorbed radiation was measured in various craniofacial tissues on an adult phantom (Alderson Rando) when conventional cephalometric radiographic techniques were used. The views examined were lateral, 45 degrees oblique, posteroanterior, lateral temporomandibular joint tomograph, and basilar (submental-vertex). Absorbed radiation was expressed in micrograys for the individual views and for combinations of views as customarily used in orthodontics and oral surgery. These data are compared with findings of contemporary investigators and the magnitude of the doses is compared with those in the literature for periapical and panoramic surveys.