Supported Dental CBCT File Formats
Our free dental CBCT viewer opens DICOM folders from every major scanner — Sirona GALILEOS, i-CAT, Carestream, Planmeca, Vatech — plus the OneVolume CT_0.vol proprietary export. Drop your CD folder, USB folder, or ZIP into the viewer; nothing leaves your browser.
Proprietary vendor formats (we handle them directly)
- OneVolume export (CT_0.vol) — drop the folder containing CT_0.vol; standard DICOM viewers can't read this format. Full guide
- Sirona GALILEOS folder — drop the GALILEOS volume folder; decoded directly without SIDEXIS. Full guide
Standard DICOM (any DICOM viewer opens them, including ours)
- i-CAT — outputs JPEG Extended 12-bit DICOM; full image quality preserved. Full guide
- Carestream / Kodak — standard DICOM on the patient CD. Full guide
- Planmeca Romexis — standard DICOM exports
- Vatech — standard DICOM exports
Archive formats
If your scan came as one big compressed file, drop it directly into the viewer — we unpack it in your browser.
- ZIP — the most common format on hospital CDs and patient-portal downloads
- TAR — common for research datasets
- .tar.gz and .tgz — TAR + GZIP compressed
DICOM transfer syntaxes
The technical format used to encode pixel data inside a DICOM file. Our viewer decodes every common transfer syntax used by clinical scanners.
- Implicit VR Little Endian (1.2.840.10008.1.2)
- Explicit VR Little Endian (1.2.840.10008.1.2.1)
- JPEG Lossless (1.2.840.10008.1.2.4.70)
- JPEG Extended 12-bit (used by i-CAT dental CBCT)
- RLE Lossless
- 8-bit, 12-bit, and 16-bit pixel data
- MONOCHROME1 and MONOCHROME2 photometric interpretations
NIfTI (research / converted scans)
NIfTI (Neuroimaging Informatics Technology Initiative) is the format used by most research and post-processing tools. If you ran your scan through a pipeline like FreeSurfer or fastMRI, you likely have a NIfTI file.
- .nii — uncompressed NIfTI volume
- .nii.gz — GZIP-compressed NIfTI (most common)
Compatibility at a glance
| Format | Opens in viewer | 3D / MPR | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard DICOM CBCT folder | Yes | Yes (3D + MPR) | Carestream, Planmeca, Vatech, i-CAT |
| OneVolume CT_0.vol folder | Yes | Yes (3D + MPR) | Proprietary export handled directly |
| Sirona GALILEOS folder | Yes | Yes (3D + MPR) | Decoded without SIDEXIS |
| ZIP archive | Yes | Yes if contents are CBCT DICOM | Unpacked locally |
| Panoramic X-ray (.dcm) | Yes | N/A (2D image) | Single-image DICOM |
Standard DICOM CBCT folder
Carestream / Planmeca / Vatech / i-CAT
OneVolume CT_0.vol
Proprietary export handled directly
Sirona GALILEOS folder
Decoded without SIDEXIS
ZIP / Panoramic X-ray
Both supported, unpacked locally
Which scanner did I have?
Check the CD label, the patient hand-off letter, or ask your dentist's front desk. If you only have the disc and don't know the brand, drop the folder into the viewer — it auto-detects format and tells you what it found.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CT_0.vol a DICOM file?
No. CT_0.vol is OneVolume's proprietary container. Standard DICOM viewers ignore it; our viewer handles it directly. Drop the whole folder (not just the .vol file) for best results.
Where is the data on my GALILEOS CD?
Look for a folder named “GALAXIS” or with a GAL-prefixed name. Drop that folder into the viewer. Don't double-click the SIDEXIS installer on the CD — it's Windows-only and not needed.
Will I lose image quality opening JPEG Extended in the browser?
No. Our decoder handles i-CAT's JPEG Extended 12-bit DICOM at full bit depth. The browser renders the same pixel data your dentist sees in Tx STUDIO.
Can I open a panoramic X-ray here too, or just CBCT?
Both. The viewer opens 2D panoramic (OPG) and bitewing X-rays as well as 3D CBCT volumes. If your scan is a single panoramic image in DICOM, drop the .dcm file directly.
Do dental scans support 3D and MPR?
CBCT often supports 3D and MPR because it is volumetric. Panoramic and bitewing X-rays remain 2D images, even when they are stored in DICOM format.
What if my CBCT CD only has a Windows .exe viewer?
Ignore the .exe — it's the bundled vendor viewer. The actual scan data lives in a folder on the same CD (look for “DICOM”, “IMG”, or a vendor name). Drop that folder into our viewer; works on any operating system.