Dental Implant Technology

Dental implants are man-made replacements for missing teeth, or more accurately, replacements for the roots of the missing teeth.  They provide a foundation or support onto which crowns, bridges and dentures can be permanently fitted.  Some implants can have crowns or dentures placed on them immediately after the implant is placed, but more typically there is a period of months that allows the bone to integrate tightly around the implant before placement of the restored teeth over the implant. 

The Smile Centre has two specialized CT scans, also called a CAT scan, which provides detailed information about the teeth, skull, jaw bones, temporomandibular joints (TMJ), sinuses, nerves, airways, cervical spine and other important structures of the head and neck.  CT scans are quickly becoming the standard of care when placing dental implants.

These computerized images can be taken in 20 seconds or less and with much less radiation exposure than conventional CT scans.  They show three-dimensional images of the skull including bones of the jaws and sinuses (critical structures when evaluating whether implants or bone grafts and sinus augmentations are viable options), some soft tissues such as nerves and other structures of the head and allow placement of dental implants with unprecedented accuracy and predictability.