D0367 — Cone Beam CT Scan, Full Head and Jaws
D0367 is a three-dimensional cone beam scan capturing both jaws and the surrounding structures, used for implant, surgical and complex diagnostic planning.
Cone beam computed tomography is the point at which dental imaging stops being a picture and becomes a model. The machine rotates once around your head and a computer reconstructs a three-dimensional volume that can be sliced in any plane, measured in millimetres, and loaded into planning software.
D0367 covers the large field of view — both jaws and the surrounding anatomy, rather than a single tooth or one region. It is the scan used when the clinical question involves position, volume or relationship: how much bone is available for an implant, exactly where the nerve canal runs, whether a canal in a molar was missed, how a jaw fracture sits, what a cyst is doing to the surrounding bone.
Where it changes the treatment
Implant planning is the dominant use. A cone beam scan gives the exact height and width of bone at a proposed site, the distance to the sinus floor or the inferior alveolar nerve, and the bone density — which together determine implant length, diameter, angle and whether grafting is needed first. It also allows a surgical guide to be manufactured, so the implant goes where it was planned rather than where it seemed to go.
In endodontics it finds accessory canals and missed anatomy that flat images cannot show, and it reveals vertical root fractures and the true extent of periapical lesions. In oral surgery it maps impacted teeth against the nerve and the sinus. In orthodontics and orthognathic planning it provides the skeletal measurements the whole plan rests on.
Dose — the honest version
This is the highest-dose imaging routinely used in dentistry. A large field-of-view cone beam scan delivers substantially more than a panoramic image, though considerably less than a conventional medical CT of the same region. The dose depends heavily on the field size and the machine settings, which is why a limited field-of-view scan (D0364, D0365) is preferred whenever the question is confined to one area.
The professional consensus is straightforward: cone beam imaging should be justified by a specific question that flat imaging cannot answer, and the field should be no larger than that question requires. It is not a screening tool and should not be taken routinely at recall visits.
Interpretation and incidental findings
A full head-and-jaws volume includes structures a dentist does not ordinarily assess: sinuses, parts of the cervical spine, the airway, carotid calcifications. Whoever takes the scan is responsible for the whole volume, which is why some practices send scans for a radiologist's report — sometimes reported separately under the interpretation codes.
Incidental findings are common and mostly benign, but a scan occasionally turns up something that matters and needs onward referral. That is a genuine benefit of the imaging, and also part of why it should not be ordered casually.
Questions about D0367
What is a dental cone beam CT used for?
Three-dimensional planning — implant site assessment, locating nerves and sinuses, finding missed root canals, mapping impacted teeth, and assessing cysts, fractures and jaw pathology.
Is a cone beam scan covered by dental insurance?
Often not. Many plans exclude it or pay only with a documented surgical indication. Ask for a pre-treatment estimate before the scan is taken.
How much radiation is in a cone beam scan?
More than a panoramic image but substantially less than a medical CT of the same region. The dose scales with the field of view, which is why limited scans are preferred when possible.
Do I need a cone beam scan for a dental implant?
For most implants it is now considered standard, because bone height, width and the position of nearby nerves and sinuses cannot be measured reliably from flat images.
What is the difference between D0367 and D0364?
Field of view. D0367 captures both jaws and the surrounding structures; D0364 is a limited volume covering one area, at lower dose and lower cost.
Also known as: cone beam CT, CBCT, 3D dental scan, implant planning scan, dental CT.