Sammanfattning
Objectives - To identify guidelines on the clinical use of CBCT in dental and maxillofacial
radiology, in particular selection criteria, to consider how they were produced, to appraise their
quality objectively and to compare their recommendations.
Methods - A literature search using MEDLINE (OVID) was undertaken prospectively from 1 January
2000 to identify published material classifiable as "guidelines" pertaining to the use of CBCT in
dentistry. This was supplemented by searches on websites, an internet search engine, hand
searching of theses and by information from personal contacts. Quality assessment of publications
was performed using the AGREE II instrument. Publications were examined for areas of agreement
and disagreement.
Results - Twenty-six publications were identified, 11 of which were specifically written to give
guidelines on the clinical use of CBCT and contained sections on selection criteria. The remainder
were a heterogeneous mixture of publications which included guidelines relating to CBCT. Two had
used a formal evidence-based approach for guideline development and two used
consensus methods. The quality of publications was frequently low as assessed using AGREE II,
with many lacking evidence of adequate methodology. There was broad agreement between
publications on clinical use, apart from treatment planning in implant dentistry.
Conclusions - Reporting of guideline development is often poorly presented. Guideline development
panels should aim to perform and report their work using the AGREE II instrument as a template in
order to raise standards and avoid the risk of suspicions of bias.