Cephalometric radiographs have an effective dose range of how many microsieverts?

• A. 2-3 uSv
• B. 20-30 uSv
• C. 0.2-0.3 uSv
• D. 34-652 uSv

Answer: (A)

Effective dose is the risk-related measure that combines how much radiation is delivered with how sensitive the exposed tissues are, giving a single value to compare different imaging tests. For cephalometric radiographs, the exposure area is small and modern techniques are efficient, so the dose per exposure is very low. In practice, the typical effective dose for a lateral cephalometric radiograph is about two to three microsieverts. That makes it one of the lowest-dose dental radiographs.

The other ranges are not consistent with standard practice: doses around twenty to thirty microsieverts are higher than expected for a single cephalometric image, and numbers like thirty-four to six hundred fifty-two microsieverts are far too high for this exam. A value around 0.2–0.3 μSv would be unrealistically low for a standard cephalometric exposure with conventional equipment. Keep in mind that actual doses can vary slightly with technique, equipment, and patient size, but the two-to-three microsievert range is the typical reference.