Why X-Rays Are Necessary During Your Consultation For Dental Implants
When you visit the dentist for your regularly scheduled cleaning appointments, you won't usually require an X-ray. While X-rays can be helpful for identifying cavities, the dentist can also detect them visually and likely won't schedule you for an X-ray before each cleaning. If you need a different dental procedure, however, such as a dental implant, it's likely that you'll need to have an X-ray taken. This step takes just a moment, and will take place at the start of your consultation appointment in most cases. Here are some reasons that X-rays are necessary before you get a dental implant.
To Assess Bone Loss
There are many different reasons that you may be looking at getting a dental implant, but a common reason is that you've lost a tooth because of poor dental health. When your dental health has suffered to the point at which a tooth has become loose and fallen out, there's a considerable chance that you've also suffered some bone loss. A dentist won't be able to put an implant post into your jawbone securely if you've lost too much bone. The X-ray will allow him or her to determine how much jawbone remains.
To Assess Bone Health
When your dentist takes an X-ray of your mouth during a dental implant consultation, he or she is also interested in checking the overall health of your jaw. This goes beyond simply seeing how much bone you have or that you've lost. The dentist will be able to read the X-ray to determine whether the bone appears healthy enough to hold an implant post. For example, if it appears brittle or appears to lack density in the area in which the dentist will be working, this is a concern. In such a scenario, he or she will be reluctant to move forward with this procedure because of concerns about the post eventually failing.
To Check For Other Issues
If you're getting an X-ray with the mail goal of checking the health of your jawbone as part of a dental implant consultation, you can be sure that your dentist will also use this opportunity to check the image for other dental health issues. For example, dental X-rays are an effective tool for checking for dental cancers that may be challenging to detect visually. If your dentist notices a problem that requires care, it might be the top priority over dental implants.
Contact an implant dentistry clinic for more help.
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