CBCT craniofacial effective dose range?

• A. 30-1079 uSv
• B. 4-30 uSv
• C. 2-3 uSv
• D. 1-8 uSv

Answer: (A)

Effective dose is a risk-based measure that accounts for how much radiation different tissues receive and their radiosensitivity. For craniofacial CBCT, the dose depends heavily on the field of view and scan settings. Small fields of view produce relatively low doses—on the order of tens of microSieverts—while larger fields used to capture more anatomy can push the dose up toward the high hundreds and even around 1,000 microSieverts in some protocols. Because of this wide range of possible settings across devices, the craniofacial CBCT effective dose is commonly cited as about 30 to 1079 μSv. The lower end reflects small FOV exams, whereas the upper end reflects larger FOVs and higher-dose protocols. Lower numbers shown for other options correspond to typical 2D dental radiographs, which generally deliver smaller doses than CBCT.