PREIMPLANT RADIOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF AVAILABLE MAXILLARY BONE SUPPORT - COMPARISON OF TOMOGRAPHIC AND PANORAMIC TECHNIQUE

For maxillary implants it is essential that presurgical radiographic e xamination provides reliable assessment of the available bone support. Radiographic confirmation of the inclination of the alveolar crest is also necessary, to select optimum sites for insertion of implants. Wh en preimplant radiographic assessment is based solely on a panoramic r adiograph, only the bone height can be assessed and not the available bone volume or the inclination of the alveolar crest. Tomographic exam ination techniques allow for assessment not only of available bone hei ght and volume but also of the inclination of the crest. In the presen t work tomographic and panoramic examinations of two cases are compare d. The radiographic appearance of different alveolar crest forms is di scussed. For preimplant assessment of the maxilla, tomography is the m ethod of choice.