Advantages and Limits of Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Equine Dental Disease

Introduction
Computed tomography (CT) is increasingly used in equine medicine as a valuable diagnostic tool. CT provides detailed cross sectional images of tissues with good bony and soft tissue contrast, eliminating the problem of superimposition (Heufelderet al. 1994; O’Brien and Biller 1998; Solano and Brawer 2004). CT examination of the equine head region is indicated in cases where clinical and radiographic examinations are inconclusive, when the exact localisation and extension of a lesion is needed for targeted therapy planning (Annear et al. 2008) and also to monitor cases with ongoing disease following treatment. Computed tomography has proven to be very useful in the diagnosis of fractures, dental disease, infection and neoplasia of the equine paranasal sinuses. General anaesthesia is usually required for equine CT examinations, but more recently some clinics offer CT examination on sedated, standing horses (Nelson 2008). [...]