Cone beam CT for diagnosis and treatment planning in trauma cases

Three-dimensional imaging offers many advantages in making diagnoses and planning treatment. This article focuses on cone beam CT (CBCT) for making diagnoses and planning treatment in trauma-related cases. CBCT equipment is smaller and less expensive than traditional medical CT equipment and is tailored to address challenges specific to the dentoalveolar environment. Like medical CT, CBCT offers a three-dimensional view that conventional two-dimensional dental radiography fails to provide. CBCT combines the strengths of medical CT with those of conventional dental radiography to accommodate unique diagnostic and treatment-planning applications that have particular utility in dentoalveolar trauma cases. CBCT is useful, for example, in identifying tooth fractures relative to surrounding alveolar bone, in determining alveolar fracture location and morphology, in analyzing ridge-defect height and width, and in imaging temporomandibular joints. Treatment-planning applications include those involving extraction of fractured teeth, placement of implants, exposure of impacted teeth, and analyses of airways.