and the integration of the technol-ogy created stress for the team until the new procedures and skills were mastered. The final hurdle in the integration of any new technology is moving the doctors and team past the idea that “the old way is working just fine.” Answering Questions Adding cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) technology to your practice is a bigger decision than adding a digital scanner and carries a greater integration cost. Questions to wrestle with include: “The benefits of CBCT technology are heavily weighted toward diagnostics. The enhanced ability to diagnose helps us treat our patients to a higher level of care.” ƻ How much time per day will be devoted to CBCT manipulation and interpretation? constructed from one scan, saving the patient radiation exposure and you time. There are many factors to consider when diving into 3-D imaging technology. The following are a few diagnostic capabilities that have proven to be important: ᕡ Identifying TMJ abnormalities in children and adults. ᕢ Measuring mandibular ramus and corpus discrepancies. ᕣ Tracing 3-D cephs. ᕤ Measuring skeletal and soft tissue parameters related to airway dysfunction. ᕥ Evaluating cranial sinus abnormalities. ᕦ Evaluating nasal turbinate, septal, and osteomeatal complex abnormalities. ᕧ Evaluating upper cervical and craniocervical junction abnormalities. ᕨ Evaluating midpalatal suture development. ᕩ Measuring transverse apical base discrepancies. µ Planning treatment for advanced/surgical orthodontics. ¸ Viewing, in 3-D, supernumer-ary, ectopically erupting and impacted teeth. ¹ Evaluating the cranial base. Ƹ Evaluating the periodontium both pre-and post-orthodontics. ƹ Evaluating treatment mechanics. The benefits of CBCT technology are heavily weighted toward diag-nostics. The enhanced ability to diagnose helps us treat our patients to a higher level of care. That matters, especially if we are treating airway issues, TMJ issues, and the entire stomatognathic system, as well as for our ability to see what we are changing—if anything! www.orthodontics.com ᕡ Why upgrade to CBCT if your current pan and ceph work adequately? ᕢ What is the cost of incorporating CBCT technology? Ƽ How much stress will the incor-poration of CBCT cause for doctors and staff? All these questions have answers, but the answers will likely differ among dental prac-tices. If your practice focuses on endodontics and dental implant surgery, a small volume CBCT system with high resolution may be the best option, whereas if a practice is more focused on orthodontics, airway, and TMD, a large volume CBCT system with less resolution may be optimal. Keep in mind that the radiation dosage for various machines and images differs, and for those practic-ing orthodontics, the need for repeated exposures during treat-ment begs for a high-volume, low exposure CBCT system. This will result in lower resolution images, but the resolution needed for the diagnosis may be acceptable. ᕣ Will CBCT imaging offer a significant benefit to my patients? ᕤ Will CBCT have a return on investment? ᕥ What training will come with the CBCT technology? ᕦ How long is the learning curve for doctors and staff while inte-grating CBCT? ᕧ How will I find the time in my day to progress through the learning curve? ᕨ How will my staff adapt to the new technology? ᕩ How much radiation will my patient be exposed to with CBCT? µ What type/brand of CBCT machine is best for my practice? ¸ What are the professional liabili-ties of taking CBCT images? ¹ Does every CBCT scan need to be interpreted by a radiologist? Know the Benefits Incorporating CBCT into your practice will enhance your ability to diagnose issues and the preci-sion of your diagnoses. You will see things you haven’t seen with 2-D imaging. You may even see things you don’t want to see—like what really happened with your treatment mechanics. Plus, multi-ple diagnostic images can be Ƹ How will I store the CBCT files and images in my practice setting? ƹ What will I do with the diagnostic information gleaned from CBCT? ƺ Will the image quality be as good as my old pan/ceph? Fall 2025 7
Journal of the American Orthodontic Society Fall 2025: Page 7
