3D Imaging
Our office is equipped with a Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) scanner. CBCT technology has been specifically designed for head and neck imaging that produces 3D scans of the maxillofacial skeleton (face, jaws and teeth). It involves a unit that can be comparable in size with a conventional panoramic radiographic machine. It rotates once around the head giving all the information necessary to reconstruct in 3 dimensions with low level exposure to x- radiation.
The advent of CBCT has made it possible to visualize the dentition, the maxillofacial skeleton and the relationship of anatomic structures in 3D. In oral surgery, this imaging allows us to evaluate the position of teeth in relation to specific structures such as the sinuses and nerve canals, evaluate bony pathology, visualize the anatomy (shape and size) of the bone available for implant placement, and evaluate the position of teeth that have not yet erupted.
The images obtained can be manipulated in specialized software, which allows visualization in 3 planes of space.