General & Preventive
Digital X-Rays & 3D Imaging in Mundelein, IL
The short version
Dental imaging at Markiewicz Dental in Mundelein, IL goes far beyond the flat X-rays you grew up with: low-dose digital radiographs, iTero digital scanning instead of goopy impressions, and cone beam CT (CBCT) — a 3D scan that maps your teeth, roots, nerves, and jawbone in complete detail. Better images mean earlier diagnoses, smaller treatments, and safer procedures.
Here’s the simple truth behind all of it: dentists can only treat what they can see, and most of what matters in your mouth — decay between teeth, infection at a root tip, the bone beneath your gums, the nerve running through your jaw — is invisible to the naked eye. Imaging is how small problems get caught while they’re still small.
Medically reviewed by the doctors of Markiewicz Dental
Digital X-Rays — Less Radiation, More Detail
Digital sensors replaced film in our office years ago, and the upgrade works in your favor twice. First, dose: digital X-rays use a small fraction of the radiation of traditional film. Second, quality: high-resolution images appear instantly on the chairside screen, where we can enlarge, sharpen, and compare them against your previous visits — and where you can see exactly what we see before any treatment is discussed. We follow the ALARA principle (As Low As Reasonably Achievable): images are taken only when they’re diagnostically necessary, at the lowest dose that answers the question.
What Is CBCT — and Why Does It Matter?
Cone beam computed tomography is the biggest leap in dental imaging in a generation. A traditional X-ray flattens your three-dimensional anatomy into a two-dimensional picture — structures overlap, depth disappears, and important details can hide behind one another. A CBCT scan instead captures your full anatomy in 3D: every tooth and root from every angle, the precise height, width, and density of your jawbone, the exact path of the nerves running through it, and the position of your sinuses. The scan itself takes under a minute, with the machine rotating once around your head while you stand still.
Where CBCT Changes the Outcome
Implant Planning
This is where 3D imaging has become the standard of care. Placing an implant means anchoring a post in bone at a precise depth and angle while avoiding nerves and sinuses — and a flat X-ray simply cannot show whether the bone is thick enough, dense enough, or clear of structures that must be avoided. CBCT answers all of it before surgery: we plan the exact position of every implant on the scan, which makes the procedure itself shorter, safer, and more predictable.
Diagnosing Hidden Pain
Some toothaches refuse to show their cause on a flat X-ray — a cracked root, an infection tucked behind another structure, a canal a 2D image can’t separate from its neighbors. CBCT resolves the ambiguity by showing the tooth from every angle, which means the difference between treating the right tooth precisely and guessing.
Wisdom Teeth and Oral Surgery
Before removing an impacted wisdom tooth, the question that matters most is where the roots sit relative to the nerve in the lower jaw. CBCT shows that relationship exactly, letting us plan extractions around your anatomy rather than discovering it mid-procedure — a major reason surgical visits are shorter and gentler than patients expect.
Evaluating Bone Before Grafting
Grafting decisions live and die on bone measurements: how much has been lost, where, and how dense what remains is. CBCT measures it precisely, and a follow-up scan confirms a graft has matured before an implant goes in — so each step of treatment is built on verified ground, not estimates.
Digital Impressions — Goodbye, Goopy Molds
The third leg of modern imaging isn’t an X-ray at all. Our iTero scanner captures a precise 3D model of your teeth and gums with a small wand — no impression trays, no gagging, no do-overs — and that digital model becomes the blueprint for crowns, veneers, night guards, aligner treatment, and more. It’s faster for you, more accurate for the lab, and it gives us a baseline record we can compare against year over year to catch changes like wear and shifting early.
Is Dental Imaging Safe?
Yes — and we treat dose like it matters, because it does. Digital X-rays already use a small fraction of film’s radiation, and while a CBCT scan uses more than a standard dental X-ray, it delivers far less than a medical CT scan — and we reserve it for situations where the 3D information genuinely changes your care: surgical planning, implant placement, unexplained pain, complex root anatomy. Routine checkups use routine low-dose images. The question we ask before every image is the ALARA question: is this scan necessary, and is this the lowest dose that answers it?
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions About Dental Imaging
How much radiation is in a dental X-ray?
Is a CBCT scan safe?
Why do I need X-rays if nothing hurts?
How often do I need dental X-rays?
What’s the difference between a CBCT scan and the panoramic X-ray I’ve had before?
Do digital impressions replace X-rays?
Patient reviews
From people who had this done here.
I have been a patient here for over twenty years and I would not go anywhere else. Everyone knows my name the moment I walk in, and the care has always been thorough and completely honest.
Dr. Markiewicz walked me through my implant plan on a 3D scan so I understood exactly what would happen. The surgery was far easier than I expected and the tooth looks completely natural.
I used to dread the dentist. This office changed that. They explained every step, checked in constantly, and never once made me feel rushed or judged about the work I had put off.
Better images make better dentistry — and you’ll see every one of yours, explained in plain language, on the chairside screen. Call Markiewicz Dental at (847) 566-2811 or request an appointment online. Serving Mundelein, Libertyville, Vernon Hills, and all of Lake County, IL.