J Oral Maxillofac Surg 69:e135-e140, 2011 Utility of Digital Volume Tomography in Maxillofacial Trauma Anuraag B. Choudhary, BDS,* Mukta B. Motwani, BDS, MDS,† Shirish S. Degwekar, BDS, MDS,‡ Rahul R. Bhowate, BDS, MDS,§ Pankaj J. Banode, MBBS, DMRD, Abhilasha O. Yadav, BDS, MDS,¶ and Aarti Panchbhai, BDS, MDS# Purpose: To assess the diagnostic quality of images generated using the newly developed digital volume tomography (DVT) system and comparing them with conventional images from patients with maxillofacial trauma. Materials and Methods: The study population included 22 male patients aged 18 to 60 years with a history of maxillofacial trauma. Each patient had undergone conventional radiographic and DVT examinations to analyze the number of fracture lines in the jaws and to compare the images for their diagnostic quality by an oral radiologist and a general radiologist using the  2 test. Results: A statistically significant difference was found between the number of fracture lines evaluated on the conventional radiographs and on DVT, especially for condylar head (7) and the midface (4.41 to 4.57), zygomati- comaxillary complex and Le Fort fractures, respectively. Conclusions: The detection of fracture lines and visualization within the mandibular-maxillary area using DVT was superior to using conventional radiographs. © 2011 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons J Oral Maxillofac Surg 69:e135-e140, 2011 Digital volume tomography (DVT) or cone beam com- puted tomography (CBCT) is an advancement in com- puted tomography (CT) imaging that has begun to emerge as a potentially low-dose cross-sectional technique for visu- alizing the bony structures in the head and neck. CBCT was first adapted for potential clinical use in 1982 at the Mayo Clinic Biodynamics Research Laboratory. Exploration of CBCT technologies for use in radiotherapy guidance began in 1992, followed by integration of the first CBCT imaging system into the gantry of a linear accelerator in 1999. 1 Successful dental treatment has always been based on thorough planning, which has usually necessitated the use of images. The need to assess the spatial relationships of the anatomic structures and measure- ments and the evaluation of tissue density have all increased the prescription of 3-dimensional (3D) and cross-sectional images. 2 Three-dimensional image cap- ture and analysis was absent from dentistry until its introduction in 1998 by Ziegler et al 3 and Mozzo et al. 4 Three-dimensional imaging techniques, such as *Postgraduate Student, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiol- ogy, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Datta Meghe Insti- tute of Medical Sciences University, Sawangi (M), Wardha, Maha- rashtra, India. †Professor and Guide, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences University, Sawangi (M), Wardha, Maharashtra, India. ‡Professor and Head, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences University, Sawangi (M), Wardha, Maharashtra, India. §Professor, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Datta Meghe Institute of Med- ical Sciences University, Sawangi (M), Wardha, Maharashtra, India. Associate Professor, Technology Information, Forecasting As- sessment and Counseling, Centre of Relevance and Excellence Laboratory in Interventional Radiology, Acharya Vinoba Bhave Ru- ral Hospital, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences University, Sawangi (M), Wardha, Maharashtra, India. ¶Lecturer, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Datta Meghe Institute of Med- ical Sciences University, Sawangi (M), Wardha, Maharashtra, India. #Lecturer, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Datta Meghe Institute of Med- ical Sciences University, Sawangi (M), Wardha, Maharashtra, India. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Choudhary: Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences University, Sawangi (Meghe), Deoli Road, Wardha, Maharashtra 442004, India; e-mail: anuraag_c2@yahoo.co.in © 2011 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons 0278-2391/11/6906-0058$36.00/0 doi:10.1016/j.joms.2010.07.081 e135