What is dental CT?
A dental CT or Computerized Axial Tomography is a device that uses X-rays to obtain three-dimensional images of the patient’s teeth and upper and lower jaw bones.
A CT scan should not be confused with a traditional panoramic X-ray, since a CT scan makes images in three dimensions, while a conventional X-ray does not.
What does it consist of?
The dental CAT scan performs a complete radiological study of the patient’s mouth, since it makes it possible to obtain images of the patient’s dental and bone structures. Thanks to this study the dentist or maxillofacial surgeon can thoroughly plan a treatment before carrying it out.
Dental CT is a very simple test that takes very little time to perform.
Dental CT is mainly used in Implantology.
Why is it performed?
Dental CT is used in specific treatments, that is to say, it is not carried out in any dental procedure. It is mainly used in implantology, although it can have other uses:
- Implant placement: It allows the study of the bone structure to determine the exact position in which the implant will be placed in the bone. In addition, it allows to see the state of the dental root.
- Bone regeneration: It is used to check the patient’s bone dimension and to determine if there is enough bone to carry out the intervention or if it is necessary to plan a bone regeneration technique, such as sinus lift.
- Wisdom teeth included: The CT scan is used to check their relationship with the lower dental nerve and to calculate the best possible approach for the extraction of wisdom teeth.
- Included canines: CT helps to perform a more focused study when orthodontic treatment is going to be performed, either with brackets or Invisalign aligners, and there is an included canine. In this way, the tooth is planned to be lowered to the correct position.
Preparation for the dental CT scan
It is not necessary for the patient to follow any previous treatment or recommendations. Before undergoing the test, the qualified personnel will put a lead vest on the patient to protect him/her from the radiation and will discuss the exact position in which to stand so that the device can take the right images of your mouth.
What does the exam feel like?
You should not feel anything different during the exam, as it is completely painless; and you can return to normal activities right after.
Advances
A more advanced type of CT is the CBCT or Cone Beam Computed Tomography. CBCT is characterized by:
- The conical shape of its X-Ray (Rx) emission source. Thanks to this particularity, with a single 360-degree rotation we obtain the necessary information of the desired area.
- The radiation is much less than that produced in the CT, since the exposure time in the CBCT is less (one or two minutes).