Abstract
Objectives
. This paper aims to review the diagnostic application of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in the field of periodontology.
Data
. Original articles that reported on the use of CBCT for periodontal disease diagnosis were included.
Sources
. MEDLINE (1990 to January 2014), PubMed (using medical subject headings), and Google Scholar were searched using the following terms in different combinations: “CBCT,” “volumetric CT,” “periodontal disease ,” and “periodontitis.” This was supplemented by hand-searching in peer-reviewed journals and cross-referenced with the articles accessed.
Conclusions
. Bony defects, caters, and furcation involvements seem to be better depicted on CBCT, whereas bone quality and periodontal ligament space scored better on conventional intraoral radiography. CBCT does not offer a significant advantage over conventional radiography for assessing the periodontal bone levels.