歯科放射線科の撮影件数の推移 : 口内法枚数と口外法件数

After the computed radiography (CR) system was developed in 1986, it became possible to acquire, view and save digital images for medical diagnosis. Around that time, panoramic radiography was digitized by the CR system, but it was limited to large hospitals. From 1994, it has been digitized at large hospitals and dental clinics. We examined the changes in the number of intraoral and panoramic radiographs in dentistry, and based on the relationships among the numbers of radiographs, patients and dental operations, we discussed the clinical significance of digitization.
We extracted intraoral and panoramic radiography data, the number of dental operations and the number of patients from the database of Tokushima University Hospital from 2002 to 2017. Then, we extracted nationwide data from Statistics of Medical Care Activities in Public Health by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare from 2002 to 2017.
As a result, although the numbers of patients and dental operations at Tokushima University Hospital have remained constant, the number of intraoral radiographs has decreased (72%), whereas the number of panoramic radiographs has increased annually since 2011 (131%). In addition, although the number of patients and nationwide insurance points increased in a different manner than that at Tokushima University Hospital, a decrease in the number of intraoral radiographs and an increase in the number of panoramic radiographs were noted across Japan. As panoramic imaging has been improved and adapted to different settings, panoramic radiography has been used instead of intraoral radiography, and it has been widely used in screening applications such as for perioperative patients. Although digitization is progressing, the analog images are still used (intraoral radiography analog rate, 29.7%, panoramic radiography analog rate, 12.4% in 2017).