Radiograph Reject Rate — ORE Part 1 MCQ
Instant feedback + full explanation. One question, done properly.
Educational content. Not a substitute for clinical judgement or local policy.
Reveal the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A — Less than 10% (ideally less than 5%)
The WHO standard establishes 5% as the maximum acceptable reject rate for medical imaging, including dental radiographs. Option A correctly states the ideal is <5% with practical flexibility to 10%. Most dental practices report rejection rates of 8–16% depending on modality (periapicals are challenging; CBCT lower). Quality assurance audits should aim for <5% as a target but recognise that 5–10% is often achievable. Option C (50%) and C (30%) are clinically unacceptable and expose patients to unnecessary radiation. Option D (1%) is unrealistically stringent. Option B ignores regulatory and ALARP obligations.
Reference: World Health Organization; cited in: Methods and systems for determining a diagnostically unacceptable medical image (USPTO 11227384, 2022); Yeung & Wong, 'Reject Rates of Radiographic Images in Dentomaxillofacial Radiology: A Literature Review', Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021;18(15):8076. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7063252/