At Smile Design Dentistry we are very excited about the newest addition to our office – Cone beam computed tomography, or CBCT for short. We have chosen to invest in the best technology to aid in our diagnostics for your dental health. Our new CBCT from Planmecca allows us to see views of your teeth, jaws and supporting structure that just weren’t possible before. Our traditional intraoral sensor images take 3D structures (your teeth and jaw bones) and stack them like paper one on top of the other to make a 2D image. This helps us fix crocked teeth and more. For many applications this is great, looking for cavities for instance, but for other applications this can be challenging to see what is really happening. If we are looking at some surgery sites, looking for cracks in the root of your tooth, trying to see the early signs of infection, this is where 3D imaging really aids us from a diagnosis perspective. While not indicated for every person, the 3D image can open up conversations and provide information about your dental health that just wasn’t possible before with traditional digital x-rays.