We all know X-rays help doctors see broken or damaged bones, but did you know they are also an invaluable tool in dentistry as they are crucial for diagnosing dental problems in your teeth or gums?
Here at Smile Solutions Richmond, we are fully qualified and equipped to offer digital X-rays to our patients to check for underlying issues within their mouths. We then use dental imaging to create a uniquely tailored treatment plan specifically designed for you.
Like a standard X-ray, which you would have in the hospital if you had broken your arm, our X-ray creates images of your mouth, which will display all of your teeth, jaw, and bone levels.
These dental images will then depict a picture of any underlying issues which are otherwise naked to the human eye, providing invaluable information and helping us devise the best line of treatment. There are a number of reasons for choosing to X-ray a patient’s mouth, including:
Having an X-ray of your mouth is a far likelier way of detecting underlying conditions that could affect the longevity of your teeth. Instead, our qualified dentists can assess this and prevent things from escalating, meaning that you will get your gleaming smile back once again.
Smile Solutions Richmond offers a variety of dental X-ray technologies to ensure we get the clearest picture of your oral health. This allows us to diagnose issues accurately and recommend the best treatment options for you, and include:
Smile solutions Richmond offers a comprehensive approach to taking x-rays starting with a Panoramic X-ray.
This advanced imaging technique provides a detailed panoramic view of your entire mouth, including your teeth, jawbone, sinuses, and even the position of wisdom teeth.
Think of it as a complete picture of your oral landscape! This detailed information helps us detect potential issues early on, such as tumors, cysts, bone loss related to gum disease, or the need for tooth extractions. With a clearer picture, we can create a more targeted treatment plan for a healthier, happier you.
Unlike panoramic X-rays that capture your entire mouth at once, periapical X-rays provide a highly detailed look at individual teeth. This targeted approach allows us to see not just the crown (the visible portion) and root canal, but also the critical areas beneath the gum line, including the bone and root tips.
Think of it as a zoom-in for each tooth! This detailed view helps us detect subtle changes, cracks, or infections that might be missed in a broader X-ray. By examining each tooth individually, we can ensure a more thorough assessment of your oral health.
This specific X-ray is designed to capture dental images of different areas of your mouth. During this X-ray, you can often have many different images taken of both your upper and lower teeth as well as the whole root structure under the gum line.
By using this X-ray format, we can detect any decaying, cavities, or further oral complications in your mouth.
A cone beam CT scan, commonly known as CBCT, provides a comprehensive 3D view of the jaw and bone levels, essential for planning dental implant cases. This imaging technique offers detailed insights into the structure of the jawbone, helping dentists determine the presence of sufficient bone for implant placement and ensuring precise location for optimal results. CBCT scans are imperative in assessing bone density, identifying anatomical structures, and evaluating the overall health of the jaw, enabling dentists to plan implant procedures with accuracy and efficiency.
You will be glad to know that there are no special requirements prior to having your teeth X-rayed.
However, we recommend that you brush your teeth before coming and not eat anything between brushing your teeth and your appointment. This will create a sterile environment for the dentists working inside your mouth.
For our patients who have a clean bill of health with their teeth and gums, we recommend them to have an X-Ray every 6-18 months.
However patients who are suffering from gum disease, recurrent decay, or other dental health concerns, more frequent X-Rays are highly recommended.
This allows us to track the progress of the issues and ensure that things are not getting worse as well as supporting our treatment plan.
Our dental X-rays and imaging are valuable tools, but it's important to understand their limitations. While they can detect some oral cancers, particularly those located in the jaw, they may not show others.
We don’t recommend relying solely on our X-rays as there are many forms of cancer which we cannot detect, instead if you are in doubt we would advise upon the importance of routine oral cancer screening.
If you still haven’t decided whether dental X-rays are necessary or whether dental imaging is right for you, don’t hesitate to get in touch and see what we can offer to meet your needs, as leading providers of dental X-rays in Richmond, TX!
