When you have a missing tooth, or suffer from advanced tooth loss, then you need a prosthetic to restore function, health, and beauty to your smile. With dental implants, we can offer a lifelike and long-lasting solution for tooth loss. In today’s blog, your Santa Rosa, CA, oral and maxillofacial surgeons talk about the technology we use in planning dental implant placement.
Planning Treatment with Digital X-Rays
Digital x-rays provide a number of benefits over the traditional x-ray options. For one, this system uses 90% less radiation. You don’t need to bite down on uncomfortable bite wigs either. Instead, you place your chin on a special rest and a machine will encircle your head, so we can obtain a panoramic view of your entire smile, jaw, and more. No need to wait for the images to develop in harsh chemicals, instead they’re available instantly chairside, so we can walk you through the diagnosis and ensure you spend less time in the chair. The images are high-definition so your diagnosis is much more accurate, and we can easily send them to your general dentist, orthodontist, or specialist as needed. We could use these to plan procedures like tooth extraction and dental implant placement.
The Benefits of CT Scans
Our team also provides 3D cone beam scans with cone-beam computed tomography, or CBCT. These are 3D images that allow us to carefully examine the jaw and roots, so we can identify the position of nerve tissues, blood vessels, and sinus cavities, and be sure to avoid them during treatment. We can find the best positions and angles to insert new tooth roots, or plan wisdom tooth extraction with detail. This is essential when planning more advanced treatments, such as bone grafting and sinus lifts, or even jaw surgery to improve overall balance or to repair facial trauma.
Our Digital Surgical Guides
Once we use the digital systems above to plan your treatment, we will need to conduct the procedure. For procedures such as dental implant placement, we can use surgical guides to ensure the new roots are being placed in the right positions and angles to stimulate jawbone growth and support new teeth or even a full set of dentures. This ensures uniformity and accuracy with your dental implant placement, so your results not only look great, but can last for decades to come.
If you have any questions about how we employ digital imaging technology to diagnose your concerns and plan treatment with precision, or to even guide the surgeries themselves, then contact our team today.
Do You Have Questions About Addressing Tooth Loss?
Our team employs advanced technology to replace missing teeth and offer a full smile again. To learn more about placing one or more dental implants, then schedule a consultation by calling Santa Rosa Oral Surgery in Santa Rosa, CA, today at 707-545-4625.