Diagnostic value of dental cone beams computed tomography using low-dose radiation technique for diagnosis of wrist fractures

Background: Utilizing dental cone beam computed tomography (DCBCT) in wrist bone fracture diagnosis is relatively new.This study investigated the diagnostic value of DCBCT using a low-dose radiation technique for wrist fractures.Materials and Methods: This study compared dental CBCT (DCBCT) with multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and extremity CBCT in terms of radiation dose, using the doselength product (DLP) as the primary comparison metric.Twenty-nine adult patients presenting with various wrist injuries underwent imaging with different parameters using DCBCT.Image quality was independently assessed by two radiologists using a 5point Likert scale.Results: DCBCT demonstrated a significantly lower radiation dose than MDCT, though slightly higher than extremity CBCT.The optimized DCBCT protocol (70 kV, 2 mAs, 15 seconds) provided high diagnostic image quality, with an interrater agreement of 85.4%.Conclusion: DCBCT offers an effective, lower-radiation alternative for diagnosing wrist fractures compared to MDCT.Optimized protocols provide good image quality and could be cost-effective, particularly in regions where extremity CBCT is unavailable.