Awareness of radiation exposure among the patients and dental students

Abstract

Dental radiographs are routinely advocated by health care professional in or- der to aid in diagnosis and treatment planning. Though there has been growing concerns with respect to radiation exposure among health professional, awareness about the risk and the effects among health professionals using radiological procedures is still low. The aim of this study was to determine the Awareness of Radiation Exposure among the Patients and Dental Students. The present survey was conducted to determine the level of awareness of radiation exposure among patients and dental students of radiology. The study hypothesizes that there is low level of awareness of radiation exposure. Based on survey research, the study sampled a total of 100 participants comprising of 68 dental students and 32 patients. Based on the analysis of the returned questionnaires, the findings confirm the study hypothesis showing that level of awareness of radiation exposure was low. Moreover, the level of awareness among patients was lower than among the dental students group. This research paper provides details of the survey and the implications of the findings. The low level of awareness of radiation exposure among dental students and patients alike has been confirmed through the findings from this survey. This finding should be cause for alarm considering that radiation exposure continues to be a growing risk to health professionals and patients using radiological procedures and technologies. With such low awareness levels, many health professionals and 1 patients would be exposed to the risk of cancer and other long-term effects of radiation exposure.