CBCT technology is being broadly used in all fields of dentistry, including orthodontics, endodontics, oral surgery/pathology, periodontics, and implant treatment planning. Depending upon the characteristics of the CBCT machine, such as size of detector and voxel size, different applications may be selected.
Before acquiring a CBCT on a patient, it is very important that the clinician review the medical history, clinical information and previous radiographic images to assess the need for the CBCT images. There must be a risk-benefit balance between any radiation exposure versus the information that will be gained by the study.11 Is the patient going to benefit from the CBCT study? Would the additional information potentially change the diagnosis or the treatment planning? A good principle would be to acquire a CBCT study only when, in conjunction with the clinical examination, the benefit to the patient will be higher than the risk to the patient.
