The second IAEA Consultancy meeting on radiation protection in dental uses of ionizing radiation was held at the IAEA Headquarters on 20-24 February 2017. Seven international experts contributed to the meeting, including representatives of the World Dental Federation (FDI), the International Association of Dento-Maxillofacial Radiology (IADMFR), the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP), and the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging (the Image Gently Alliance). The WHO representative participated through teleconferencing.
The purpose of the meeting was to finalise the training material developed by the IAEA for radiation protection in dental radiology, and to prepare an advanced draft of a new publication in the safety report series.
The experts reviewed the new training package consisting of 12 modules and found it ready for further dissemination through the IAEA RPOP website, after the formal endorsement of the above mentioned organizations.
The experts prepared an advanced draft of the publication in the safety report series titled Radiation Protection in Dental Radiology. This publication will provide specific guidelines for ensuring radiation protection in uses of ionizing radiation in dentomaxillofacial radiology. This includes guidelines for justification and appropriateness of medical exposure, and optimization of radiation protection and safety for patients, carers and comforters, and dental staff, including equipment factors, quality assurance, dosimetry and operational considerations. This publication will pay special attention to the protection of children and pregnant patients. The target audience for the publication is dentists, referring medical practitioners, radiographers, medical physicists, radiation protection experts, and regulators.