Age and Sex of Patients Undergoing Dental Radiologic Examinations

As sociodemographic data can aid in making a diagnosis, treatment planning, and estimating patient prognosis, this study sought to quantify the frequency of distribution of patient visits to the radiology clinic according to different parameters and investigate the association of sex and age with undergoing radiographic dental examinations. Dental radiography records collected from January 2016 to December 2017 (n = 13734) and 2017 (n = 13219) were included. The variables studied were age, sex, referral clinic, and radiographic technique applied (i.e., dental; panoramic; lateral cephalometric; posteroanterior cephalometric; occlusal; or positioning with the Accurad – 200™ from Whip Mix Corp., Fort Collins, CO, USA). The age groups were classified as follows: toddler (0–5 years), childhood (6–10 years), early adolescence (11–16 years), late adolescence (17–25 years), early adulthood (26–35 years), late adulthood (36–45 years), early elderly (46–55 years), late elderly (56–65 years) and senior (>66 years). In terms of sex, more females than males underwent radiographic examinations in 2016 and 2017, with females accounting for 60% and 61% of all examinations performed per year, respectively. Based on age groups, patients aged 17 to 25 years underwent the majority of (radiographic examinations performed in 2016 and 2017 (29.7% and 29%, respectively). Thus, there were significant differences regarding sex and age for radiographic examinations performed in 2016 and 2017 (Pearson’s chi-squared test, p < 0.0001). IFemales aged 17 to 25 years accounted for the majority of radiographic examinations conducted in 2016 and 2017.