Film Badges in the Dental Office
Film Badges are required to be worn in the dental office when an employee :
• Will exceed 10 % of the annual adult limit ; this equates to 500mR / year for adults or 100mR / year for minors and pregnant women
• Is a minor
• Has declared pregnancy
• Enters a high radiation area ; exposed to more than 100mR / hour
No badging is required if an individual does not meet any of the criteria listed above . In instances where badging is required , the party responsible for each radiation source an individual is exposed to is obligated to assure that radiation exposure from sources under their control does not result in an individual exceeding limit requirements . There is no requirement for how often personnel badges must be analyzed , except to say that it cannot exceed one year .
Even though a dental office is not likely to exceed the limit requiring badging , the Bureau of Radiation Protection recommends badging , not only for liability reasons , but also to follow the “ As Low As Reasonably Acceptable ” ( ALARA ) Principle .
Authorization to Take X-Rays in the Dental Office
State Board of Dentistry ( SBOD ) regulations require that dental auxiliary personnel ( EFDAs and assistants ) must pass the radiological procedure examination adopted by the SBOD prior to taking radiographs in the dental office . Auxiliary personnel are prohibited from taking radiographs prior to passing the exam .
Individuals who hold a license from the state ( dentists and dental hygienists ) do not require additional authorization to perform radiological procedures . Licensees have already satisfied the general competency requirements through licensure alone .
The examination currently adopted by the board is the Dental Assisting National Board ’ s Radiation Health and Safety exam . Auxiliary personnel must first take and pass the exam . Once they have passed the exam , they need to keep a copy of their test scores , as well as provide a copy to their employer ( s ). They are then permitted to take radiographs in the dental office under direct supervision .
SBOD regulations regarding the performance of radiologic procedures by auxiliary personnel can be found at : https :// www . pacode . com / secure / data / 049 / chapter33 / subchapDtoc . html .
Continuing Education
Regulations require that any individual who operates an X-ray machine must maintain continuing education credits in radiology . The course can be any pertaining to radiology , but there are four subject areas that the course must address in order to satisfy regulations :
• radiation safety ,
• biological effects of radiation ,
• quality assurance and
• quality control .
Dental offices that conduct “ high risk ” procedures are required to complete CE at least every 2 years . High-risk procedures are defined as any radiological procedure that uses energies of less than 1 million electron volts that could exceed skin doses of 200 rad ( 2.0 Gy ).
All other offices are considered “ low risk ” and will be required to complete CE at least every 4 years . You will need to maintain a record of any continuing education specific to radiology that is obtained by all employees . When DEP inspectors come into your offices to inspect your X-ray equipment , they may ask to see these CE records .
2023