Oral Radiology (CBCT)

Dental Cone Beam Computed Tomography is a medical imaging technique that provides a three dimensional representation of the maxillofacial region. Making the invisible visible is one of the many advantages of 3-D images. With CBCT dentists are able to create amazingly detailed 3-D views of your teeth and jaws. These three dimensional images allow your dentist to better diagnose and understand the extent of dental disease and plan the best course of treatment.  Yes, CBCT guarantees that you will receive the most precise treatment that relates specifically to your case. No wonder, CBCT has become increasingly popular in the treatment planning and diagnosis of endodontics, orthodontics and most importantly for dental implants.

Prior to a cone beam examination, you will be asked to remove anything that interferes with the imaging, including jewelry, eyeglasses, hairpins or dentures. After you have been positioned properly the C-arm or gantry moves around your head capturing multiple images from different angles. These images are then processed by a computer to create three-dimensional images. It takes 20 to 40 seconds for a full mouth x-ray, in which the entire mouth and dental structures are imaged.

Dentists will prescribe a CBCT scan for a number of reasons. You may be asked to take a CBCT scan in any of the following cases

• You are looking for a third dimension to diagnosis and an image-guided treatment strategy
• Diagnose bone conditions for placement of dental implants as well as plan for proper implant positioning
• Identify cysts, tumors or other abnormalities in the bone, such as extra teeth
• Planning the surgical exposure of impacted teeth for orthodontic eruption
• Evaluating facial traumas, identifying and characterizing fractures and associated complications in detail
• Visualization of dental abnormalities, evaluation of jaws and face, cleft palate assessment and endodontic diagnosis

While radiographs are one of the best diagnostic tools available to medical and dental practitioners, radiation safety has become a critical issue. There is always a slight chance of cancer from excessive exposure to radiation.

Dentally speaking CBCT allows visualization of anything from your whole skull, to a single jaw or jaw joint, down to a single root canal within a tooth and even more. It produces high-resolution three dimensional images which greatly improves diagnostic accuracy and optimizes treatment planning. The scan also takes less than a minute to complete with digital images available immediately for evaluation.

CBCT is a medical imaging technique that has greatly revolutionized the dental diagnosis and treatment protocol. The highly accurate 3-dimensional images of the jaws, teeth, and supporting structures help to diagnose any problems more accurately and efficiently than ever before.  With CBCT all the minute details show up clearly! So take advantage of a more complete dental treatment with Cone beam imaging!