Technology & Patient Resources
In-house 3D CBCT scanning
Three-dimensional imaging without the referral, the separate appointment, or the delay — performed here, reviewed with you the same visit.
A cone beam CT scan produces a three-dimensional image of your teeth, jawbone, nerves, sinuses, and the structures around them, captured in a single quick scan on site.
Referring patients out for this typically means a second appointment, a wait for the report, and a third appointment to discuss it. Having the scanner here compresses all of that into one visit.
How it differs from a standard x-ray
Standard Dental X-Rays
Two-dimensional views, excellent for detecting decay between teeth and assessing existing restorations. They remain the right tool for routine examination.
Cone Beam CT
Shows bone depth and thickness at a prospective implant site, the exact location of the inferior alveolar nerve, the position and health of the sinuses, and the true volume of available bone.
Why it matters for implants specifically
Almost every serious implant complication traces back to something that was not visible on a flat x-ray — insufficient bone width, a nerve closer than expected, or a sinus floor lower than assumed.
A CBCT scan converts those unknowns into measurements before any decision is made. It is also the dataset that drives computer-guided surgery, so the same scan that answers 'can we?' also determines exactly where and how deep.
What the scan involves
You stand or sit still while the machine rotates once around your head. It takes about ten seconds. Nothing goes in your mouth, nothing is injected, and there is no enclosed tube of the kind people picture with a hospital scanner.
The result is a three-dimensional model of the jaws that can be sliced and rotated on screen. Because it is in the building, it is available in minutes rather than after a referral to an imaging centre.
The radiation question, with actual numbers
This is the question worth asking, and it deserves figures rather than reassurance.
Radiation dose is measured in microsieverts. Published ranges for dental imaging are roughly:
- A single digital intraoral x-ray: 1 to 8 microsieverts.
- A panoramic x-ray: 10 to 30.
- A dental CBCT scan, small field of view: 20 to 200.
- A dental CBCT scan, medium field of view: 100 to 500.
For context, natural background radiation in Canada is about 1,800 to 2,000 microsieverts a year, simply from living here. So a small-field dental CBCT is in the region of four to forty days of ordinary background exposure, depending on the settings used.
A medical CT of the head is commonly 1,000 to 2,000 microsieverts, which is roughly two to twenty times a dental CBCT. The two are not the same examination and should not be pictured as the same thing.
Those are broad ranges, not fixed doses, and the range is honest rather than evasive. Dose depends on the size of the field scanned, the resolution requested, the exposure settings, the machine and the patient. A low-resolution scan of a single site sits at the bottom of the range; a high-resolution scan of both jaws sits near the top.
When we take one, and when we do not
Under Ontario's Healing Arts Radiation Protection Act, an x-ray is taken where it is clinically indicated for that patient, and not otherwise. That is a legal requirement, not a policy choice, and it means a CBCT scan is not part of a routine check-up.
It is indicated when a flat image cannot answer the question being asked:
- Planning an implant. How much bone is there, in three dimensions, and where does the nerve or the sinus sit relative to the planned position — implant dentistry.
- Assessing a tooth that is not behaving as the flat image suggests — a suspected crack, or an infection that has not resolved.
- Wisdom teeth close to the nerve, where the relationship matters before a decision about removal — wisdom teeth.
- Full-arch planning, where the bone available decides how many implants can go where — full-arch implants.
If a two-dimensional image will answer the question, that is what we take — digital x-rays.
Common questions
How much radiation is a dental CBCT scan?+
Published ranges are roughly 20 to 200 microsieverts for a small field of view and 100 to 500 for a medium field. Natural background radiation in Canada is about 1,800 to 2,000 microsieverts a year, so a small-field scan is in the region of four to forty days of ordinary background exposure.
Is that the same as a hospital CT scan?+
No. A medical CT of the head is commonly 1,000 to 2,000 microsieverts, roughly two to twenty times a dental CBCT, and it is a different examination on different equipment.
Will I need one at a routine check-up?+
No. Ontario's Healing Arts Radiation Protection Act requires that imaging be taken only where it is clinically indicated for that patient. A CBCT scan is taken to answer a specific question a flat image cannot answer.
How long does the scan take?+
About ten seconds. The machine rotates once around your head. Nothing goes in your mouth and there is no enclosed tube.
Why does having it here matter?+
The images are available in minutes rather than after a referral, so planning can happen in the same appointment as the discussion about it.
Have a question?
Book a consultation and see your own scan on screen. Call (905) 479-7777.