CT scan before dental implant placement

Implant placement is surgery, in which the surgeon works inside bone, next to the nerve and the sinus. Everything he knows about that bone before the incision, he knows from the scan. That is why a CT scan before implant placement is not a formality and not a way of selling an extra service, but the only way to see the area before anything has been done to it.

What the surgeon looks at

• Bone height — how many millimetres there are from the crest to the anatomical limit. This determines the length of the implant.
• Bone width — whether there is enough width for the implant to be surrounded by bone on all sides. If there is not, bone grafting is planned.
• Bone density — this decides whether the implant can be loaded straight away or has to wait a few months.
• The mandibular canal — where the nerve runs. This matters most in the lower jaw: a mistake here leaves lasting numbness of the lower lip and the chin.
• The floor of the maxillary sinus — in the upper jaw. If there is little bone under the sinus, a sinus lift is needed, and that is planned from the scan as well.
• The condition of the neighbouring teeth — whether there is hidden inflammation nearby that would stop the implant from integrating.

Which volume to choose

If you are unsure, read us your surgeon's prescription over the phone 067 478 87 78. Taking a larger volume “just to be sure” means overpaying; taking a smaller one means having the scan redone.

Why a panoramic image is not enough

On a panoramic image the jaw is unrolled onto a flat plane. You can see that the bone is there, but not how thick it is — because the thickness runs into the depth, and a flat image has no depth. The same goes for the nerve: on a panoramic image its course is visible only roughly, to within a few millimetres. For an implant, a few millimetres are the difference between success and a complication.

A panoramic image before implant placement is useful as an overview step: it shows all the teeth and finds hidden lesions. But the planning is done on 3D.

Radiation

The unit selects the dose itself, according to the patient's height and build, so the figure varies: 10–15 µSv per study. The annual dose a person receives from background radiation alone is about 4,000 µSv. So a CT scan of both jaws is roughly 0.4% of what you will receive over a year anyway, and less than a few hours on a plane.

How to pass the scan to your surgeon

Right after the study we send a link to you and, if you give us the address, to your surgeon as well. The format is DICOM — any implant planning software will open it. A USB Type-C drive is included in the price of a CT scan of both jaws. The link never expires, so a year later, when the second stage comes round, your scan will still be there.

We take the scan and pass it on — the report and the treatment plan are made by your own doctor, because the decision depends on the clinical picture he sees in the chair. If you do not have a doctor of your own, you can show the scan to the head doctor at Houston — with a CT scan of both jaws the consultation is free of charge.

If you are treated at Houston

Your scan goes to the clinic's doctors automatically — you will not have to pay for imaging a second time once treatment starts. Implant placement, bone grafting, prosthetics and orthodontics in one place, with shared access to the scan archive. Surgery and implant placement at the Houston clinic.