CBCT within endodontics: an introduction

CBCT versus conventional CT Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), which is also referred to as cone beam volumetric imaging (CBVI) and cone beam volumetric tomography (CBVT), is an extraoral radiographic method of producing three-dimensional digital radiographic information (Patel et al, 2009a; Patel, 2009; Miles, 2008; McNamara, Kapila, 2006; Horner, Drage, Brettle, 2008; Patel et al, 2007). In conventional CT scanning machines, the X-ray source and detector rotate 360o around the patient at around the rate of 60 times per minute, with a thin fan-shaped beam of X-rays directed through the patient. The thickness of each image slice is determined by the distance the patient is moved through the inside of the CT scanning machine during this synchronised rotation. This creates multiple sectional images that are then processed by a computer to create a three-dimensional image of the patient’s region of interest (Beckmann, 2006, Miles, 2008; Horner, Drage, Brettle, 2008; Patel et al, 2007). In cone beam CT scanning devices, unlike conventional CT, a narrow cone-shaped beam, as opposed to a fanshaped beam, rotates between 180 to 360 degrees CBCT within endodontics: an introduction