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Diagnosis and Treatment Planning

Any problem which a patient might experience needs to be diagnosed. Even if there is no problem it needs to be diagnosed. Once the diagnosis has been made, a treatment plan can be finalized and  discussed with the patient before the actual treatment can commence.

Full Dental Examination

A full dental examination consists of the clinical observation of the patient, taking a medical and dental history of the patient and evaluation of all the hard structures in the mouth (the teeth, the bone , Tempero-mandibular joint (TMJ), crowns and the fillings) as well as the soft tissues (palate, cheeks, lips, gums, tongue) for any pathology or abnormalities.

 

During this visit a proper evaluation of the bite will be taken to determine of the maxillary- and mandibular teeth occlude in a proper manner. The bite is very important, because it determines whether teeth and fillings will last or not. It also determines whether the biting forces are equal on each side and if these forces are transferred correctly to the Tempero-mandibular joint. The bite-evaluation also shows if there are any pathology during function.

 

Teeth and dental restorations are examined for any decay , leakages, discolouration, mobility and superficial fractures.

 

Soft tissues are examined for erosions, swellings, redness, inflammation, infection, scar tissues or abnormal anatomy.

Radiology

Radiology are mainly used to examine the hard tissues (the teeth, the bone , TMJ crowns and the fillings) for any abnormalities but it can also help determine soft tissue lesions as well as the percentage of growth that is left within the bone .

PERI-APICAL (Small) x-rays
x-ray of teeth Dentist in Pretoria

Dr. Reiners uses state of the art digital x-rays with high resolution to detect even the smallest of lesions in the hard structures. These lesions include decay, leakage of fillings, bone fractures, tooth fractures, bone loss, abscesses, granulations and cysts etc.

 

Digital x-rays are safer than the old standard x-rays because of the reduction in radiation to create an image.

 

Digital x-rays are also used to determine the bone density, especially when implants will be placed.

EXTRA-ORAL (Large) x-rays

These x-rays are mainly for the purpose of diagnosing skeletal defects and large pathology such as jaw abnormalities, cysts, abscesses, fractures, cancer lesions, evaluation of the tempero-mandibular joints, sinus evaluation and  deformities.

 

It is mandatory to take extra-oral x-rays in all trauma cases.

 

Extra-oral x-rays are also used to determine the percentage of growth that is left within the bone.

 

These extra oral x-rays includes:

Panoramic x-rays

Panoramic x-rays Pretoria

Cephalometric x-rays

Cephalometric xrays

Wrist x-rays

Wrist photo Pretoria

Postero-anterior (PA) x-rays

Postero-anterior (PA) x ray

Tempero-mandibular joint x-rays

Tempero-mandibular joint xray
Photography

Dr. Reiners uses photography to diagnose soft tissue lesions and oral pathology. He also uses photography to determine harmony between the soft tissues and the teeth and bone structures.

 

He also uses photography to determine tooth colour for the purpose of reconstructions or crown procedures, and then send it to the dental technician so that crown prosthesis can be manufactured to fit 100% in with the rest of the teeth.

 

It is also used to take before and after photo's of procedures.

 

Photography is a useful tool in comparing size of lesions with previous photo's of the same lesion.

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