Dental Cone Beam Tomography – CBCT

Dental Cone Beam Tomography or Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) is an advanced imaging technique that modern oral surgeons and dentists use to scan patients more accurately than previous methods allowed.

With a CBCT scan, providers can see not only the underlying bone structure but also the soft tissues, ligaments, and nerve pathways. The scanner accomplishes this by taking a 3D series of scanned images using cone beam technology. Attached to a robotic apparatus called a C-arm, the scanner rotates in a 360-degree sweep around the patient’s head, taking multiple images from multiple angles as it does so.

Using computer imaging techniques, these images are then reconstructed into one 3D image or one complete scan of the patient’s oral structures. The advantages of this technology are numerous. For example, volumetric scans of a jawbone used to be extremely difficult to obtain through traditional X-rays, with the required radiation content prohibiting it in most patients. However, a CBCT scan can safely show surgeons the bone structure and density, as well as the structures of surrounding tissues.

Offices equipped with CBCT scanning equipment are more likely to spot and diagnose oral health issues in the early stages of development due to the accuracy, affordability, and ease of use of this new scanning technology.