Cone Beam Volumetric Tomography

How can you treat what you can’t see? For most of our lives, we have been used to going to the dentist, getting an x-ray gun placed alongside our mouths, and watching to doctor look at flat, two dimensional scans of our mouths. These basic scans are fine to point out basic imperfections of our teeth: cavities, impacted wisdom teeth, or a fractured tooth. However, what if we want to see one step further and understand the implications of fixing some of these aliments?

A new scan called Cone Beam Volumetric Tomography (CBVT for short) allows dentists to see in a third dimension, create futuristic digital models of a patient’s entire mouth and jaw structure, and anticipate potential complications with routine procedures! What looks like a simple wisdom tooth removal on a 2d scan suddenly looks way riskier when the CBVT reveals the potential for nerve damage and paresthesia (a tingling sensation) if the tooth is removed. Taking one of these scans is actually easier and less time consuming than a traditional 2d piecemeal scan! Instead of having to move the x-ray gun over and over while the dentist takes pictures from loads of different angles, you simply step into the machine, bite a mouthguard, and wait as the machine’s arm swings in a 360-degree arc, capturing all the angles of your mouth in one go.

While photos taken with this machine are at a higher cost than the traditional 2D scan, Dr. Golden believes the additional costs are far outweighed by the added safety and additional knowledge gained from the CBVT scan! If you’d like to discuss treatment options including which type of scans will be best for your treatment, contact Golden Dental Wellness Center at (516) 627-8400.