CBCT and Dental X-Ray in Dubai

The clinic's cone beam unit is a Planmeca Viso G5. The specifications that matter clinically are these.

Fields of view up to 20 x 17 cm, and freely adjustable volume sizes, so the imaged area can be limited to a single tooth for an endodontic question or extended to the full face where the plan requires it. Restricting the field to the region under investigation is the main way dose is controlled.

Voxel size down to 75 μm in the high-resolution endodontic mode, which is what makes accessory canals and fine root fractures visible.

Planmeca Ultra Low Dose protocol, a low-dose acquisition used where the diagnostic question does not require full resolution, and Planmeca NOA noise optimisation.

Planmeca CALM motion artefact correction, which compensates for patient movement during acquisition. This matters for elderly patients, for anyone in pain and for anyone who finds it hard to hold a position for the length of the scan.

Panoramic imaging on the same unit, so the panoramic image and, where it is indicated, the cone beam volume are taken at one appointment on one machine.

Planmeca ProFace, a three-dimensional facial photograph acquired with the scan, used in orthodontic and smile design planning.

The unit is open at the front, so the patient faces the operator and can be spoken to throughout, and integrated cameras allow the field of view to be positioned precisely before exposure.

Implant planning. Height and width of available bone, its density, the course of the inferior alveolar nerve in the lower jaw and the position of the maxillary sinus floor above the upper molars. These determine implant length, diameter and angulation, and whether grafting is needed. See dental implants and bone grafting and sinus lift.

Wisdom teeth. The true three-dimensional relationship between the roots of a lower third molar and the nerve canal, which a panoramic image can only suggest. See tooth extraction and oral surgery.

Endodontics. Additional canals hidden behind others on a flat film, unusual root curvature, root fracture, and lesions at the root tip that have not yet reached the outer bone surface — relevant to root canal treatment.

Orthodontics. Impacted canines and their relationship to the roots of the incisors, supernumerary teeth, the amount of bone covering the lower incisors, and airway assessment where indicated. See braces and clear aligners.

Pathology and trauma. Cysts and other lesions of the jaws, fractures, and assessment of the temporomandibular joints.

Every radiographic exposure has to be justified: taken because the information changes what is done, not because it is available. That principle governs how imaging is used here, and it is why a scan is not performed on request without a clinical question behind it.

The dose from cone beam imaging is well below that of a medical CT of the same region and above that of a single intraoral film. The variables that matter are the size of the field of view and the protocol chosen, both of which are set to the smallest and lowest that will answer the question. Protective measures are applied, and the imaged area is limited rather than routinely extended.

Tell the team before any exposure if you are pregnant or think you may be. Elective imaging is deferred; where imaging is necessary because of infection or injury, it is performed with the field restricted, since untreated infection carries its own risk to a pregnancy.

No preparation is required and nothing is injected. Metal objects in the field — earrings, removable dentures, hearing aids, hair clips — are removed, because they create artefacts. You are positioned in the unit, asked to stay still and to avoid swallowing during the acquisition, and the scan itself takes seconds. The whole appointment usually runs ten to fifteen minutes.

The unit is open at the front rather than enclosing the head, which makes it straightforward for patients who find medical CT or MRI difficult.

The images are reviewed immediately for quality. Where the reason for the scan is a specific surgical or endodontic question, the finding is usually discussed with you in the same visit.

The volume is supplied in DICOM format, the standard used by implant and orthodontic planning software, along with a written report. That means the data can be opened by any practice, and a scan taken here does not have to be repeated elsewhere.

Referrals from other dental practices are accepted for imaging alone. A referral should state the clinical question and the region of interest, because those determine the field of view and the protocol; a request for a scan without an indication cannot be justified. The referring dentist receives the volume and the report.

Interpretation of an existing scan, including a volume acquired at another centre, is handled through reporting on dental CT scans.

A cone beam volume covers more than the tooth that prompted it. The reading therefore goes beyond the question asked: the whole imaged volume is reviewed, including the maxillary sinuses, the temporomandibular joints, the airway where it falls within the field and the bone of both jaws.

That matters because incidental findings are common in this region — mucosal thickening in a sinus, a retained root fragment, an unerupted supernumerary tooth, a radiolucency at the apex of a tooth nobody was thinking about. Some require action, most require documenting and following, and a few require referral. A report that addresses only the referral question leaves the rest of the volume unexamined.

The written report states what was seen, what could not be assessed because of artefact, and what follow-up is recommended.

A full-mouth CBCT scan at ELEMENTAL is AED 1,000. The scanner is on site, so the images are available during the same visit and are used to plan implants, root canal treatment and surgical extractions. A dental consultation is AED 650. Prices are current as of August 2026.