CBCT
Most orthodontic offices can see your teeth. A CBCT scan lets us see everything around them, too — the roots, the jaw, the airway, even how the teeth are positioned relative to the bone that holds them in place. It’s a 3D X-ray that takes one quick, painless scan and turns it into a complete picture we can rotate, zoom into, and actually study, instead of guessing from a flat image.
That matters because it changes what we can promise you. A lot of orthodontic problems don’t show up on a regular X-ray until they’re already bigger problems — an impacted tooth, a root that’s not where it should be, a jaw that’s growing slightly off track. With CBCT, we catch those things early, while there’s still an easy fix instead of a complicated one. It’s also how we back up the honest answers we give you. When we tell a parent their child doesn’t need treatment yet, we’re not guessing — we’re looking at the same 3D image you could look at with us, right there on the screen.
And because it’s a single scan instead of several separate X-rays, your child spends less time sitting still in a chair and gets less radiation exposure overall. It’s one of the reasons a same-day consult at Sunrise can actually end with a real answer instead of a “let’s schedule more imaging and call you next week.”
3D Scanner
If you or your kids have ever had orthodontic impressions taken the old-fashioned way, you remember the goopy tray, the gagging, and the two minutes that felt like twenty. Our 3D scanner replaces all of that with a small wand that takes a few passes around the mouth and builds a precise digital model of your teeth in real time, right on the screen in front of you.
There’s no tray, no mess, and no waiting for a mold to set. For a nervous 8-year-old in for their first consult, that difference is everything — a scan feels more like a game than a procedure, and most kids are curious rather than anxious once they see their own teeth pop up on the monitor. For adults, it just means less discomfort and less time in the chair.
The digital model is also more accurate than a physical impression, which matters once treatment starts. It’s what lets us plan tooth movement with real precision, order appliances that fit right the first time, and show you and your child exactly what their smile is expected to look like along the way. If you’re a candidate for Angel Aligners, this same scan is what your aligners are built from, so there’s no second appointment and no second impression needed.