The Impact of Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Exposure Parameters on Peri-Implant Artifacts: A Literature Review

Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) amounts to an excellent diagnostic tool to evaluate the peri-implant bone thickness in all dimensions. Despite the unquestionable advantages of CBCT, potential artifacts around dental implants might disturb the proper assessment of the surrounding structures. The artifacts may mask osseointegration, shallow bone defects, and other types of radiolucency, which make it difficult to establish an early diagnosis of bone loss. Proper diagnosis of bone defect is necessary to decide about surgical intervention. The aim of this literature review is to assess the CBCT exposure causing artifacts on the peri-implant structures. An electronic search of MEDLINE (PubMed) database includes studies published before July 2021 and supplemented by manual research. Clinical, ex vivo, in vitro, and animal studies evaluating the relationship between exposition parameters and occurrence of artifacts around the dental implant in CBCT studies were included. A literature review revealed that kilovoltage, tube current, and field of view may affect the occurrence of artifacts around dental implants, all of which would compromise radiological evaluation. Therefore, it is feasible to reduce the incidence of artifacts and improve the image quality by appropriate modification of the exposure parameters. However, the reduction of artifacts is often associated with a significant increase in radiation exposure; hence, an effort should be made to minimize the radiation dose in line with the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle.