Dental implants are the most advanced option in dental restoration, surpassing all others in terms of protecting oral health and function and improving appearance. The advantages of dental implants have become even greater in recent years with the advent of 3-D imaging technology, a tool that has enhanced the safety and precision of dental implant placement procedures, improving success rates of dental implants in Edmond and allowing treatment in a wider range of patients.
The Dental Implant Future is Here with 3-D Imaging in Edmond
Successful, complication-free dental implant placement requires an extraordinary amount of precision. To provide a secure anchor in the jaw for replacement teeth, implants must be placed, at optimal positions and angles, in healthy, dense bone. There are nerves to be avoided to ensure against patient injury, which can lead to lifelong chronic pain, as well as sinus cavities that can be damaged with improper placement, a complication that can lead to painful, chronic sinus problems.
Dental implant specialists once had to rely on traditional dental X-rays to plan that placement, which can often be of less than stellar clarity and offer just a flat, rather distorted view of oral anatomy. Of course, skilled and experienced dental implant specialists used these tools quite successfully for many years in hundreds of thousands of successful dental implant procedures. However, the limitations of these images could sometimes make it difficult to thoroughly evaluate matters like bone health or nerve position, opening the door to unexpected difficulties during surgery.
More Precise Dental Implant Procedures with Less Pain in Edmond
3-D imaging uses cone beam technology to take a create precise, high definition, distortion free, three dimensional anatomical images of a patient’s face and jawbones. This allows a much more detailed and accurate assessment of factors crucial to optimal surgical planning, such as bone thickness and quality and the exact position of nerves and sinus cavities, among many others, taking the guesswork out of dental implant procedures.
With advanced imaging software, implant specialists can use those images to create an interactive three dimensional model, enabling precise measurements and calculations for optimal placement and alignment of each implant. Dynamic virtual simulations of procedures can be created during surgical planning as well, offering an opportunity to double-check the details of surgical plans.
3-D imaging technology also makes life easier for patients as they are evaluated for dental implants in Edmond. Patients find the quick, easy scanning process, which takes less than a minute in most case, much more comfortable and convenient than sitting through those traditional X-rays.
Also, patients who might have been turned away as poor candidates in years past are often able to be helped today, as surgeons, able to evaluated anatomy more thoroughly, find solutions to many of these more challenging cases.