Dental examinations are the most frequent type of radiological procedure, and account for 21% of the total on a global scale. X-rays examinations help dentists to diagnose, plan treatments and monitor both treatments and lesion development.?

There are four types of dental radiological procedure - intraoral (bitewing, periapical and occlusal) radiography, panoramic radiography, cephalometric radiography, and cone-beam CT (CBCT). Individual doses are small but collective doses cannot be ignored due to the high volume of procedures. The estimated annual number of dental examinations is about 520 million, with a frequency ranging from less than one to more than 800 per 1000 population per year.