We know that waiting for appointments or investigations can be stressful and time consuming, especially when it delays treatment that you need or want. We are keen that our patients to be able to access the skills, expertise and equipment they need, all under one roof.

As a team with a special interest in oral surgery and dental implantology we felt it was therefore appropriate to ensure that we have an inhouse CT scanner. This gives us the capability to conduct scans to assist with surgical planning or identify potential disease (such as infections, cysts, tumours etc).

We are delighted that we are fortunate enough to have our own Planmeca 3D Pro-Max CT scanner. This fantastic piece of equipment allows us to conduct a wide range of scans.

We are able to produce:

• CT scans that allow us to view areas of the skull in 2 or rendered 3 dimensions (these can be digitally shared with hospitals)
• Conventional dental jaw X-rays (OPG/DPT) usually used by orthodontist or oral surgeons
• Very high-resolution focused CT scans for specialist endodontists who need to work out where the canals are in teeth requiring complex root canal treatment
• Ordinary dental X-ray taken from outside the mouth for those people who have a pronounced gag reflex and cannot tolerate having the films placed inside their mouth

We welcome referrals from other doctors, dentists or surgeons who need these scans.

The software that we use in conjunction with the scanner allows us to identify the position of anatomical structures (such as nerves, sinuses, blood vessels etc) and superimpose images onto the 3D rendered model of the skull, which is useful for surgical planning.

The new technology also allows us to select the most appropriate field, resolution and radiation dose to ensure that the investigation is as safe as possible. A diagnostic image can therefore be produced at a lower radiation dose than that compared to a hospital CT scan of the head.

You can get an idea of the scanner and software capabilities from the video below.