Variability of two methods of measuring absorbed dose in dental radiography.

: Thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) has been widely used in the monitoring of radiation exposure in healthcare workers operating radiation devices. This study compared the reliability of TLD to an electronic dosimeter. The absorbed dose registered by the TLD chips was found to be higher than that by the electronic dosimeter. Variability was found to be significantly higher and the variance component attributed to the variability of the method of measurement was more than twice as much in TLD when compared to the electronic dosimeter. It is concluded that TLD is a more variable method of measuring absorbed dose than the electronic dosimeter.