Conebeam computed tomography: legal considerations.

With the introduction of conebeam computed tomography (CBCT) in the early 2000s, oral and maxillofacial radiology fully entered the modern world of 3-dimensional (3D) radiographic imaging. Although conventional or medical computed tomography (CT) had been available since the 1970s, with few exceptions, it had not been widely used in dentistry. In the early days of conventional CT, the machines were limited in number, restricting their use to only the most beneficial of purposes--for example, imaging of the brain. The cost of a CT examination was also prohibitive. For these reasons, the modality in dentistry was used almost exclusively in oral and maxillofacial surgery and sparingly at that. Even as the limitations of access and cost disappeared, the cost-benefit ratio when the x-ray dose was compared in relation to the information to be gained was generally considered to be unfavorable for the use of CT scans in most dental applications.