The difference between CBCT and traditional CT

dental radiographer, panoramic camera and oral CT (including CBCT) are three kinds of clinical imaging diagnostic equipment in stomatology. The first two provide doctors with two-dimensional images to make a preliminary interpretation of lesions, while oral CT (or CBCT) provides complete three-dimensional images and provides users with more complete clinical interpretation information in all directions. Because these three technologies have their own advantages and disadvantages, they are interdependent and are still the main diagnostic equipment in stomatological hospitals and outpatient clinics.

Although the resolution of dental film machine is high, it is limited by the size of shooting position, so it is often impossible to obtain images of a large area, and the dental film needs to be placed in the patient's mouth, so the patient's experience is not good when shooting; Panoramic film can observe the whole image of the whole dentition, but there are always two technical bottlenecks: distortion and image overlap, and it is still two-dimensional, and it can only observe the near and far, but can't view the buccal and lingual direction. In recent years, the application of oral CT is becoming more and more perfect, and the clinical popularization rate is getting higher and higher because it provides three-dimensional images and can be observed locally. However, because the technology of image reconstruction can't make a further breakthrough, metal artifacts and bone artifacts (see Figure 1) have always restricted the possibility of completely replacing two-dimensional X-rays. (Figure 1)

This balance, which has been maintained by the interdependence of two-dimensional and three-dimensional images for many years, was changed in October this year (218) by a research and development team from Chicago, USA. Using high-quality CT images, they introduced a technology called "intelligent 3D panorama", which not only solved the problem of overlapping traditional panoramic images, but also solved the problem of image distortion that traditional CT could not avoid due to the interference of metal artifacts and bone artifacts.

this team has adopted some AI algorithms, which can intelligently identify the dental arch curve of each patient (see Figure 2.1) and the corresponding physiological curvature of teeth (see Figure 2.2), and after many clinical tests, it has been found that even for patients with toothless or dental arch deformity in the mouth, the intelligent 3D panorama can accurately locate, and gradually scan from inside to outside along the personalized dental arch to generate 33 sectional panoramas at one time! Moreover, the image quality is very good, even if the thickness of periodontal ligament is only .25mm, it can be clearly seen that the definition is comparable to that of small dental tablets (see Figure 3).

(figure 2.1)?

(fig. 2.2)

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The traditional panoramic view is bound by two-dimensional vision, and the interference of spinal artifacts is widespread, and it is difficult to identify the image details of tooth structure and periodontal tissue. This technical problem that has plagued doctors for many years has also been alleviated after the successful development of intelligent 3D panoramic view. Starting from 219, it is no longer an unreachable dream to simply and quickly form 33 fault panoramas at one time, but a readily available commercial product. (see fig. 4) (fig. 4)

The intelligent 3D panorama can generate 33 panoramic views at one time, which greatly improves the diagnostic efficiency of clinicians. In the foreseeable future, the intelligent 3D panorama may become a convenient and routine diagnostic tool for stomatologists!