Happy New Year. I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday. With the New Year comes some exciting new innovations empowering the dentist to better diagnose and treat the dental patient. Today I would like to discuss CBCT or Cone Beam Computed Tomography. CBCT scans module three dimensional images rather than the two dimensions seen with traditional digital x-rays. This added dimension becomes invaluable in the diagnosis of disease and the planning of tooth replacement and reconstruction. Cone beam scans assist with determining bone structure, tooth orientation, nerve canals and pathology that in some cases may preclude the necessity for a surgical procedure.
I would like to address the issue of radiation exposure. Medical CT scans do expose the patient to relatively large doses of radiation. This is justified due to the inherent value of information obtained. The dental CBCT imaging method allows dentists to obtain vital three dimensional information without exposing patients to high levels of radiation that come from medical CT scans. Dentist ascribe to the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) protocol concerning radiation levels. This protocol guides practioners to expose patients to the least amount of radiation possible while still gaining the most information. For dentists placing and restoring implants, having this information beforehand is imperative to determining anatomical variations that can affect the procedures success or failure.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment