Despite the widespread use of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), few articles have been published to assess the accuracy in detecting alveolar bone defects using different CBCT exposure settings. A human cadaver with rounded bone defects in various locations was scanned using a CBCT scanner at different settings. Four examiners twice studied 1,500 crosssectional digital and printed slices for defect presence, location, and size. High-resolution zoom mode achieved the highest overall accuracy. Moreover, apical location of the defects significantly affected overall accuracy. Bone defect detection depends upon exposure settings of CBCT scans. Exposure settings and field of view dimensions should be individualized per case.