Researchers question dental radiology training cycle

Korea: Results of a recently published research reviewing the appropriateness of the existing dental radiology education cycle indicates a need to adjusting the training cycle from 2 to “at least 5 years”, said the research team.

The Dental Health Policy Research Institute has published the research results of the ‘Trend Survey for Improving the Dental Radiology Education Period’ that was conducted to understand the appropriateness of the dental radiation education cycle.

KCDC regulation

The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has stipulated that radiation safety management officers for diagnosis are required to attend a regular course every two years for the purpose of lowering the exposure dose of the public and radiation-related workers. This was changed from the previous requirement to attend a single session.

Led by Jin Seung-wook, head of the Research Coordination Office at the Institute for Policy Studies, the study was conducted by the Institute’s own researchers.

Feasibility study

The research team looked at domestic and foreign cases of radiation education and the exposure dose to dental radiation of the public and workers. The Institute prepared the draft that was later reviewed by Prof Chang-ki Min (Chonbuk National University) of the Korean Society of Radiological Dentistry.

The Institute for Policy Studies commissioned the study to verify the feasibility of existing government policy.

According to the results of the study, other countries such as the US, Canada, UK, Germany, and Japan do not separately regulate the period of radiology education for dental diagnosis. In particular, none of those countries had implemented radiology education for dental diagnosis every two years.

Current radiation exposure levels

The study also noted that the general public’s exposure to dental radiation was low at 0.014 mSv in Korea. Dental radiation exposure levels in the US (0.043 mSv), and the UK (0.005 mSv) were used as references for comparison.

The exposure dose of dental workers was also observed to be very low compared to other occupations. As such, the research team observed that “reducing the training cycle to lower the exposure dose is inappropriate – and suggested increasing it to at least 5 years.”

Keep it simple

In addition, the researchers also raised the need for simplification, stating that there are already in place stringent regulations on medical radiation for diagnostic purposes, which are relatively low-risk.

In the interest of the radiation protection and dose management plan, it was suggested that instead of adjusting the training cycle, it would be more effective improving the radiation environment – such as monitoring the quality control of equipment.

“We started this study with questions about whether there was sufficient review and whether stakeholder opinions were reflected when the government decided to change the education cycle. It should be strengthened,” said Jin Seung-wook, head of the Research Coordination Office.

Kim Young-man, the head of the research institute, added: “There is a lot of concern among the schools due to the application of the changed education cycle from next year.”