Efficacy of implant placement with surgical guides in the rehabilitation of the edentulous areas: An observational study and review of literature

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study was conducted to evaluate the precision of the implant placed using a surgical guide by comparing it with simulated implant position. MethodsPreoperatively cone beam computed tomography scan was taken, which was converted into Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine files (DICOM). Intraoral scans in form of Standard Tessellation Language (STL) files were taken; both the DICOM and STL files were transferred into 3Shape Implant Studio. After superimposing the data prosthesis was digitally designed and implant simulation was done and surgical guide fabricated. Thereby implants were placed through the guiding hole of the guide. The angular deviation and the linear deviation of the implants at the coronal and the apical end were done by superimposition of the simulated and placed implants in ‘Navident-ClaroNav’ software with closest point algorithm and verified. ResultThe mean angular deviation of the implant was 2.73°± 2.05°, the P value for angular deviation was found to be > 0.05. The median lateral deviation of the implant at the coronal end was 0.81 mm.The median lateral deviation of the implant at the apical end was 0.97 mm. ConclusionThe surgical guide designed to reduce the inaccuracies due to manual implant placement has proved to have high accuracy in achieving ideal positioning. The computer aided stereolithographic guide helps in transferring ideal implant position from simulated planning to actual implant site during the surgery, thereby reducing the inaccuracies in its positioning.