Dental X-rays And 3D Imaging
Dental X-rays and 3D Imaging in Kearny Mesa
Seeing what an exam cannot.
At a glance
- What it is
- Digital X-rays, panoramic imaging and 3D CBCT scans.
- Where
- Kearny Mesa Smile Center, 8018 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111.
- When
- Fridays and Saturdays, 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
- Equipment
- One unit captures both panoramic X-rays and 3D CBCT scans.
An Exam Shows YouThe Surface
A visual exam is genuinely useful and it has a hard limit. It shows the outside of your teeth. It cannot show what is between them, what is under an old filling, what is happening at the tip of a root, or how much bone is holding everything up.
Those are the places that cost people teeth.
What We Use And Why
Digital X-rays. Sensors replaced film years ago. The image is on the screen in seconds, it can be enlarged so small changes are visible, the radiation dose is a fraction of what film needed, and the images live in your record instead of an envelope in a drawer.
Panoramic X-rays. One image of both jaws, all your teeth, and the joints. This is the wide view that shows how everything relates to everything else.
3D CBCT scans. A standard X-ray flattens a three dimensional mouth into two dimensions. A CBCT does not. It builds a 3D picture of the teeth, the jaw and the bone, which is what makes accurate implant planning possible: how much bone is there, where the nerve runs, exactly where an implant can sit.
Our unit at 8018 captures both panoramic and CBCT, so you are not sent to another office just to be imaged.
How Often You Need Them
It depends on your history rather than on a schedule. Someone with no decay for a decade needs fewer images than someone with several failing restorations. Dr. Cortes will tell you what he wants and why, and you can ask.
A first visit includes a full mouth series, because a plan built without one is a plan built on the visible half of the problem.
Dental X-rays in Kearny Mesa
All imaging happens at 8018 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, on the day of your appointment. You will see the images on the screen next to you and Dr. Cortes will go through what he is looking at.
Questions about dental X-rays
Digital X-rays use a fraction of the radiation film required. The dose from a routine set is very small, and we take them because what they prevent carries far more risk than the images do.
Yes, and you should. The monitor faces the chair on purpose.
An X-ray is a flat image. A CBCT is a three dimensional scan that lets us measure bone in every direction. CBCT is what makes guided implant surgery possible.
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Come see what dental care should feel like.
8018 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111
info@kearnymesasmilecenter.com
Call (858) 256-4838Text (858) 256-4838
Office hours
Friday and Saturday: 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Sunday through Thursday: Closed