How Guided Do You Want to Be?

November 7, 2020 / 10:30 - 11:30 am

Program Track: Emerging Concepts and Innovative Therapies

Since implant dentistry became a mainstream treatment approach, there has been an emphasis on accurate planning and placement to enhance outcomes and minimize complications. Recently, there have been several technological improvements for surgery adapted from medical technology that were added to sophisticated planning tools. Navigation permits the surgeon to virtually “see” site preparation and implant placement on a computer monitor displaying patient anatomy and drill or implant position in real time, and visually manipulate them into pre-planned positions. Robotics additionally adds haptic guidance to navigation, assuring accurate duplication of pre-planned surgical positioning. These technologies are all FDA approved and commercially available in the US. Accuracy and speed are two goals that don’t have to be mutually exclusive. In implant dentistry, CAD/CAM guides promised accuracy in implant placement and have had some limitations. Same day treatment can be facilitated with dynamic guides that are available with a minimal amount of preparation work and nominal change to surgical protocol. Dynamic guides also permit for the addition of changes if need be that can’t be done at the time of surgery with static guides. This presentation will provide an overview for these technologies including case reports.

Educational Objectives:

• Represent emerging technology in the field, contrasting static guides, navigation and robotic surgery and discuss the applicability and potential benefits of these new methods through case presentations.
• Suggest future improvements in robotic implant surgery that will facilitate and enhance usability.
• Compare and contrast dynamic navigation versus static guides and show the challenges with both guide types.
• Demonstrate the advantage to the patient and referral of same day treatment with a dynamic navigation.