A survey of patient contact shielding in dental teaching hospitals in the UK

A high volume of dental imaging is carried out each year. In the UK, guidance on the use of patient contact shielding for these investigations is published by the British Institute of Radiology (BIR) and in a document jointly produced by the Faculty of General Dental Practice and Public Health England (FGDP/PHE). Both these sources of guidance have been updated recently and patient contact shielding is no longer recommended for most imaging settings in dental radiology. It is unclear whether radiology departments at dental teaching hospitals in the UK are aware of these sources of guidance, and unclear how this relates to clinical practice within these departments. 
A survey was carried out exploring awareness of current guidelines and clinical practice at dental teaching hospitals in the UK. The survey was sent to a representative at 17 different dental teaching hospital radiology departments.
Responses were received from eleven departments. The range of intra-oral and extra-oral imaging carried out at these departments was comparable. Ten departments were aware of the existence of national guidelines for patient contact shielding, however only 4 were specifically aware of the recent BIR guidelines and only 4 were specifically aware of the FGDP/PHE guidelines. No department was aware of both sets of guidelines.
No departments used thyroid protection for bitewing, periapical, lower 45 degree occlusal, panoramic or lateral cephalometric radiographs. Six department sometimes or always used thyroid protection for upper standard occlusal imaging. Two departments used thyroid protection for cone beam CT imaging.
No departments routinely used lead aprons on patients for dental imaging. 
In conclusion, radiology departments at dental teaching hospitals in the UK do not use patient contact shielding for most imaging situations in dental radiology. There is mixed awareness of current national guidelines, but the reported clinical practice aligns well with the current guidelines.