ArticleCureus2025
Comparative Dosimetry of Handheld Versus Wall-Mounted Intraoral X-ray Systems: A Phantom-Based Study.
Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe rapid adoption of handheld dental X-ray units has revolutionized imaging in mobility-restricted patients; however, concerns may still persist regarding their radiation safety profile compared with traditional wall-mounted systems. The aim of the present study was to quantitatively compare operator- and patient-equivalent radiation doses, ambient scatter, and diagnostic image quality between a handheld (MaxRay Cocoon, Dexcowin Co. Ltd., Korea) and a wall-mounted (Optima DC, Alerio Technologies Pvt. Ltd., India) intraoral X-ray unit during standardized mandibular molar radiography. MATERIALS AND
methodsThis prospective experimental study was conducted using a human cadaver mandible as a standardized phantom. A total of 384 exposures (198 per device) were performed with identical exposure time (0.18 seconds), rectangular collimation, and a size-2 complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) digital sensor using the paralleling technique. Operator doses were recorded using real-time electronic personal dosimeters (RaySafe i3, RaySafe, Sweden) at the chest and thyroid levels and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD-100) placed under the lead apron at the chest, forehead, and fingers of the dominant hand. The patient-equivalent effective dose was calculated from dose-area product (DAP) measurements using conversion coefficients recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Image quality was evaluated objectively through signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) measurements and subjectively by three blinded experienced oral radiologists using a five-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed using independent sample t-tests.
resultsThe handheld unit produced significantly higher operator doses: finger dose 0.45 ± 0.12 µSv vs. 0.08 ± 0.03 µSv (p < 0.001), chest (outside apron) 0.18 ± 0.05 µSv vs. 0.05 ± 0.02 µSv (p = 0.001), and thyroid 0.11 ± 0.03 µSv vs. 0.04 ± 0.01 µSv (p = 0.003). The effective dose to the mandible phantom was 2.65 ± 0.25 µSv (handheld) vs. 1.82 ± 0.18 µSv (wall-mounted) (p < 0.001). The ambient scatter at 1 m was three times higher for the handheld device (p < 0.001). No significant differences were found in SNR (p = 0.125), CNR (p = 0.08), or subjective diagnostic quality scores (p = 0.65).
conclusionsDespite comparable diagnostic image quality, the handheld dental X-ray unit delivered substantially higher radiation doses to both the operator and the patient-equivalent phantom than the wall-mounted system. Wall-mounted units should remain the standard where patient mobility permits, reserving handheld systems for clinically justified scenarios.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.