Dental cone beam imaging

Most common cone beam examination targets in dental care

Cone beam examinations are used, among other things, to detect dental and jaw bone infections, dental implant surgery, wisdom tooth surgery, assess the location of unerupted teeth, examine dental cysts and tumours and plan root canal treatments.

Dental and jaw bone infections

Inflammations of the teeth and jaws can often be mild or even asymptomatic. The accuracy of cone-beam scans of teeth is better than traditional dental X-rays. In conventional X-ray examinations, approximately one third of dental root infections go undetected. A cone beam examination reliably reveals even small inflammations in the teeth at an early stage and treatment can be started without delay.

Dental implant surgery

The dental cone beam examination is an important support in the planning of dental implant treatment and the implementation of the operation. A cone beam examination can accurately determine the amount and shape of the jaw bone in the area where the dental implant, or artificial tooth, will be placed. It is also possible to evaluate the fusion of bone grafts and possible implant malpositions by using a cone beam examination.

Wisdom tooth surgery

The anatomy of the roots of wisdom teeth and their relationship to the lower jaw nerve canal, for example, can be investigated by using dental cone beam imaging. The cone beam examination allows the surgical technique to be planned and selected in advance, ensuring that the operation itself runs smoothly and within the planned time. This, in turn, shortens the healing time and reduces the post-operative symptoms.

Unerupted teeth

The location of unerupted teeth on the arch and the relationship to other teeth can be reliably assessed with dental cone beam examination. This allows you to assess the need to remove a tooth if it has caused undesirable effects on adjacent structures, such as root resorption, i.e. root degradation or loss of structure.

Dental cysts and tumours

The size and relationship of cysts and tumours in the jaw area, i.e. tumours to surrounding structures, can be accurately assessed with a cone beam examination that is clearly better and more reliable than traditional dental X-ray examinations. Based on the cone beam scan of the teeth, it is possible to make a preliminary diagnosis quite reliably and to plan the best surgical technique.

Root canal treatments

The cone-beam examination of teeth can be used to determine, for example, whether a replacement root canal treatment is necessary for symptomatic or inflamed teeth that have been previously treated, if the shape of the root canal is abnormal or the technical level of the previous root canal treatment is not sufficient. If renewed root canal treatment is chosen, the course of the root canal treatment can be planned in advance by using the information obtained from the cone-beam examination.

A cone-beam examination can also be helpful in the planning of a multi-root tooth root-end surgery.