With the computer age upon us, new technology is available to allow monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment of dental problems to become faster, easier, and more thorough. Today, 3-D cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is one such advancement that has become available to clinical dental practitioners in the last decade.
The use of 3-D cone beam technology allows dental professionals to image the head or skull area to the third dimension. Although 3-D cone beam technology is important, it does not replace or nullify the need for the valuable, but limited 2-D radiography. This new technology provides another tool to aid practitioners in improving their evidence based approach to dental treatment and treatment planning.
The implementation of this technology allows added visualization of the areas in question while providing more data to allow greater understanding and interpretation of dental treatment options. The use of this technology goes well beyond the traditional modalities of diagnosis. Virtual maxillo facial models can be created of the patient so that their dental anatomy can be reconstructed, viewed and examined in multiple planes. With this additional data, dentists can practice virtual surgery before any dental treatment is rendered.
One scan is able to capture the entire jaw with a sufficient field-of-view (FOV) to allow the best image with the least amount of radiation exposure. With this scan, the clinician is able to better measure hard tissues or bone thickness along with being able to see soft tissues and locate nerve canals. This complementary tool provides another avenue to help provide the patient with clearer and more accurate diagnosis and treatment planning in addition to a better prediction of treatment success.
As CBCT technology becomes more utilized in the dental arena, subjective interpretation of dental problems will become eliminated. As dental patients become more educated in their options, they will be better guided in their dental decision making. Dental patients will be able to partner with their dentist and cooperatively be able to eliminate subjective interpretation and be able to decide on the best treatment option.
With the advancements available in radiography and the fluid nature of the technology that is becoming more accessible in dental care, it is probably a matter of time before these innovations in the dental field become the standard of care. One thing that is for certain is that the level of dental treatment has and will continue to improve as technology joins forces with the practitioner to provide the best possible treatment and outcome for the patient.
Kendall Wood received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Kendall is a member of the American Dental Association, the Oregon Dental Association, the Southern Willamette Dental Society, American Dental Society of Anesthesiology, and the American Academy of Implant Dentistry.
He has completed the OBI II training course, moderate IV sedation, and OHSU's maxi implant course. Kendall has completed part I of the fellowship exam for the American Academy of Implant Dentistry and is currently working on completing part II of his implant fellowship credentials. For more information about this topic and many other dental health topics please visit his dental practice website at www.corvallisdentalhealth.com
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