Presurgical tomographic assessment for dental implants. 1. A modified imaging technique.

A modified technique for presurgical evaluation of intraosseous implant placement using linear tomography has been developed. The simplified technique is applicable to tomographic systems equipped with a cephalometric head positioner (cephalostat) and a fiberoptic positioning light system. It provides precise cross-sectional images for the assessment of bone morphology and associated anatomic structures. This technique is more comfortable for patients who are unable to tolerate the positioning of submentovertex projections used to estimate horizontal angulation of the head position and to determine the depth of radiographic cut. Instead, the positioning light and casts are used to make these two determinations.