radiation safety manual

The objective of this manual is to educate the dental office staff on the basics of radiography, radiation equipment, “ALARA,” infection control, film and film processing. The information provided will help reduce the patients and staffs exposure to radiation in a dental office setting.

First of all I’d like to start with an overview of radiography. Radiography is the process of an image being created on a film or digital receiver by way of radiation exposure. This radiograph allows the dental team to view and diagnose the images in hopes of providing the patient with the appropriate oral health care. The x-ray was discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen and he received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1901 for his discovery. Professor Roentgen’s breakthrough allowed others to build upon his work and further its usefulness in fields such as dentistry, specifically oral radiography in dental offices.

Second, I will discuss the types of equipment used in dental offices. The dental x-ray machine is common device found in the dental office. Other machines used are the panoramic x-ray machine and the nomad, a portable x-ray device. Dental x-ray machines differ in dimensions and appearance but they all have these parts in common, the tube head, the control panel and the extension arm. I will go into more detail in the following paragraph.

The tube head in an x-ray machine is sealed within metal housing and contains insulating oils, step-up transformer, step-down transformer, a filament circuit, lead collimator, anode, cathode, tube head seal and leaded glass or aluminum. The control panel is found on a wall a safe distance away from the radiation exposure area so it may be operated safely. On the control panel you’ll find selector buttons...

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...e becomes compromised. Other problems such as pressure or bending of the film can cause film fog. Other chemical can also contaminate the film so proper storage is important. Heat and humidity should be considered as well when storing film and accidental light exposure will ruin film too.

In short, this manual provides an overview of radiography, x-ray equipment, the ALARA principle, infection control, film and film processing. The purpose is to further the understanding of these concepts and aid in office implementation and improve patient and operator safety.

Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aribex#Portable_X-Ray_Device http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infection_control http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene

http://www.sfvds.org/fil_files/19.pdf