Workfl ow and experiences in Norwegian clinics
using dental CBCT units: A questionnaire study
Hol C1, Møystad A2, Hellén-Halme K3, Torgersen TG2, Nilsson ML3
1 Competence centre of the Dental health service Region south, Norway, 2 University of Oslo, Norway, 3 Malmö University, Sweden
Objectives
CBCT was introduced to Norwegian dental clinics in 2007 (Table 1). It is important to understand and evaluate how this modality is used in order to create guidelines to ensure high quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the experiences in Norwegian CBCT clinics, particularly
regarding workfl ow and quality issues. Material and methods
A web and paper based, 59 questions
questionnaire was sent to all 39 CBCT clinics in Norway during 2012/2013. Questions regarding experience of and opinions on issues regarding clinical use and image quality were in cluded.
Conclusion
Norwegian CBCT clinics are fully digitized, mainly multiple dentist clinics. Treatment planning was the most common indication for making a CBCT examination. The respondents were generally satisfi ed with their im age quality.
Results
The response rate was 74 % (29/39 clinics). 97 % of the clinics were multiple dentist clinics; 86 % had at least one dental specialist. In addition to CBCT, all clinics had digital intraoral x-ray receptors and all except one reported having panoramic x-ray units, all digitized. 57 % of the clinics made an average of less than three CBCT examinations each week (Table 2). The most common indications (Table 3) were implant treatment planning (Figure 1) and localization of impacted teeth (Figure 2).
34 % of the respondents believed the patients received a dose equivalent to 10-20 periapical x-rays when using their standard CBCT protocol and the smallest fi eld of view (FOV) (Table 4).
Subjectively, most respondents were satisfi ed (66 %) or very satisfi ed (17 %) with their image quality (Table 5). Multiple image enhancement functions were routinely used, especially contrast (97 %), brightness (90 %) and zoom (86 %).
Most clinics (86 %) had daily back-up routines for safety copies of their CBCT examinations.
Layout: J.U., Section for Photography, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo - 2013 Layout: J.U., Section for Photography, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo - 2013
Tannhelsetjenestens kompetansesenter Sør 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10
Average number of CBCT examinations each week Clinics (%) Table 2 0 10 20 30 40 50 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
When did your clinic accquire the CBCT unit? Clinics (%) Table 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CBCT examinations used for different clinical problems
5 - most common clinical problem, 1 - least common clinical problem
Implant treatment planning Localizing impacted teeth Jaw pathology Pain problems Other problems Table 3 0 10 20 30 40
CBCT doses relative to periapical x-rays
CBCT: standard protocol, smalest FOV
Number of respondents (%) Table 4 Table 5 Subjective image quality Number of respondents (%) 0 3 14 66 17 Fig 1 Fig 2
