CBCT--the justification process, audit and review of the recent literature.

As part of the quality assurance programme in a dental radiology referral centre, the reasons for taking cone beam CT (CBCT) images were analysed and the volume sizes of the field of view (FOV) were noted. Eighty CBCT scans were carried out in the period examined. Implant planning accounted for 40% of the scans, 26% were for assessment of lesions of endodontic origin, 19% for assessing impactions and 10% for pathology. A review of the recent literature showed that a CBCT scan gives the potential for an improved diagnosis for the patient and has a great range of clinical applications. The effective dose for some of the more common scans was estimated to enable an assessment of the net benefit of the scan to the patient, and to help in developing a scanning protocol.