Dental CE Course: Demystifying the Integration of 3-D Imaging Into Clinical Practice

Over the last five years, 3-D imaging has moved from a hospital or university base to every day clinical practice. We have seen the increased popularity of such conebeam computerized tomography (CBCT) systems as the iCat, as it is used in diagnosis and treatment planning. In addition, 3-D photogrammic imaging systems such as 3dMD allow precise visualization of the patient's external soft tissue. Dr. Mayes and his colleagues have perfected a method of surface fusion of the color renderings of the 3dMD image with the grayscale surface of the i-CAT scan in a system that can be used on a daily basis.Dr. Mayes will attempt to take the discomfort and confusion out of becoming familiar with these two new technologies. He is a busy orthodontist in Lubbock, Texas, who has taken i-CAT and 3dMD images on over 10,000 patients during the last five years. His "no-nonsense" approach will begin with the basics of i-CAT and 3dMD technologies and will build from there. Three-dimensional hard and soft tissue as well as airway analysis will be shown and explained. The reasons why 3-D information cannot be used to interpret 2-D photos or cephalometric x-rays will be explained in detail.