Michael M. Bornstein
Current guidelines advocate intraoral radiographs to be taken when clinical examination is indicative of disease. However, conventional two dimensional (2D) intraoral radiographs lack buccal/lingual bone visualization, parallel projection might be difficult in some situations, and they frequently underestimate proximal peri-implant bone loss. Three dimensional (3D) imaging using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) has become widely popular in dental mediciene over the last two decades. CBCT image quality varies with the device and technical parameters like field of view (FOV), voxel size, x-ray beam quality, image reconstruction parameters, and can frequently be compromised by artifacts. In implant dentistry, CBCT has mainly been used in the assessment of surgical sites prior to implant insertion or evaluation of post-surgical complications. Its performance in the diagnostic imaging of peri-implant bone loss is unclear. The objective this lecture is to provide an overview on the current use and available evidence regarding the diagnostic performance of CBCT in peri-implant bone loss diagnosis in comparison to 2D radiographs.