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CONE BEAM VOLUMETRIC IMAGING IN CLINICAL PRACTICE

Nothing has captured the dental profession’s imagination in the past few years like the introduction of cone beam volumetric imaging (CBVI), sometimes referred to as cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT) or cone beam volumetric tomography (CBVT). These machines’ image acquisition process differs from that of traditional medical computerized tomography (CT) scanners in that the patient is not usually supine, the image gathered is in a voxel (volume element) format, the x-ray dose absorbed by the patient is substantially lower, appointment availability is much easier, and it is less expensive. In short, although the imaging modality produces significant data volumes like medical CT, it is vastly superior to traditional CT data for specific dental applications.

Dentists and dental specialists have seen and appreciated the incredibly precise and profound information produced by CBVI scans, and they are realizing that the data they receive will influence their treatment decisions like no other imaging modality used in the profession in the past 100 years. CBVI makes clinical decision making easier and more precise, patient treatment decisions more accurate, and visualization of the x-ray data more meaningful. Dentistry is moving away from “radiographic interpretation” and into “disease visualization,” and it could not have come at a better time.