Tooth loss can undermine bite and chew functions or your smile. But this should not be the case! With advances in digital dentistry, you can rely on guided implant surgery to replace a missing tooth or teeth.
What is Guided Dental Implant Surgery?
Guided dental implant surgery is a digital dentistry procedure for implant placements. It uses advanced imaging and reconstruction technologies, including cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans, CAD or CAM software, and 3D printers. These solutions simplify manufacturing processes and provide tons of information to "guide" your dentist or oral surgeon. With a surgical guide, your dentist can replace missing teeth and deliver transformational restoration and smile makeover.
Here is everything you need to know about guided implant surgery and digital dentistry:
Why have a guided implant?
Dental implants can replace missing teeth and restore function and aesthetics. But the procedure involves several complex steps and requires precision to ensure success. Comprehensive planning and imaging can prevent possible complications during dental implant surgery. In addition, having a guided implant instead of traditional implant surgery offers several benefits.
Enhances predictability: Guided dental implants establish all the requirements at the diagnostic phase and provide a plan to achieve this outcome. Your dentist can rely on the surgical guide to place the dental implant according to the pre-planned restoration. As a result, it delivers a more predictable outcome compared to unplanned dental implants.
Improve aesthetics:
Like natural teeth, the shape, size, position, and angle of dental implants play a critical role in smile aesthetics. Digitally guided dental implants combine advanced technologies to improve implant design and manufacture. With computer-aided manufacturing CAM, your dentist can develop perfectly shaped and sized dental implants and improve aesthetics/function. Surgical guides also ensure precise implant placement in a pre-determined position and angulation. Having a guided implant surgery guarantees the outcome of your smile makeover.
Guarantee comfort:
If your implant-supported crown is too big or misshapen, the risk of discomfort increases. You can also experience irritation or pain after the procedure if the positioning of dental implants is less than ideal. A guided implant surgery eliminates these risks and guarantees your comfort.
Time-efficient:
With digitally guided dentistry, your dentist plans for drilling, angulation, and everything else before the surgery. It provides a visual aid to help your dentist deliver brand-new replacement teeth as quickly as possible. In most cases, your dentist will spend 20-30 minutes per replacement tooth. Guided implant surgery is faster and more efficient than traditional placements.
Reduce risks:
During implant placement, oral surgeons work close to the bone, nerves, and gum tissue. A surgical guide can help them avoid vital structures and reduce collateral damage. Toronto Smile Design - Yorkville Dental uses Dentsply Sirona Orthophos S, a CBCT machine that emits low radiation doses and obtains 3D images of your bone.
Computer-guided dental implants require adequate planning and provide a visual aid to ensure your dentist sticks to the plan. Digitally guided dentistry reduces the risk of failure and increases the success rate of implant placements.
What are the steps to getting a tooth implant?
A single-tooth implant replaces a missing or badly damaged tooth. Unfortunately, this oral surgery procedure is complex and time-consuming. To eliminate complexities, Toronto Smile Design performs digitally guided surgery using advanced solutions. Your Toronto Dentist, Dr. Johnson, will use Dentsply Sirona Orthophos S (the rarest CBCT machine!), Asiga Dental 3D Printer, and CEREC Primemill. Here are the four steps of a computer-guided single-tooth implant:
Consultation: Your Toronto Dentist will conduct a thorough examination of your teeth and gums. Following the exam, they will take digital impressions of your mouth using 3D Intraoral Scanners. Then, they'll use CBCT machines like Dentsply Sirona Orthophos S to take a cone beam CT scan of your mouth.
Planning: In this stage, your dentist creates a custom surgery treatment plan based on your implant placement needs. First, they will use anatomical data captured by CBCT scans and CAD/CAM software to design models of your mouth. Dentists also use computer-aided design CAD to attain perfectly shaped and sized implant crowns. Second, your dentist feeds the designs into a 3D printer to create 3D models and surgical guides. Toronto Smile Design - Yorkville Dental uses CEREC Primemill to develop single tooth implant guides. \
Implant Placement: During dental implant surgery, your Toronto oral surgeon or dentist replaces your tooth's root with a dental implant. If you're replacing a badly damaged or diseased tooth, your dentist will perform a tooth extraction before implant placement. Patients with unstable jawbones or suffering from the bone loss may need a bone graft procedure. Reliable clinics like Toronto Smile Design - Yorkville Dental offer bone augmentation as part of dental implant surgery. Your dentist can place the implant instantly or wait for the bone to heal and attain structural and functional integrity. They'll use your mouth's 3D model over your teeth. This surgical guide has holes where the implant should be placed. It allows for accurate positioning and angulation of the implant.
Prosthodontics Phase: Your Toronto dentist will use milling machines like CEREC Primemill to fabricate crowns for single tooth implants. This chairside milling machine produces perfectly shaped and sized implant crowns from porcelain, zirconia, or hybrid ceramics. Toronto Smile Design - Yorkville Dental uses porcelain crowns that are indistinguishable from your natural tooth. Your dentist places the custom-made crown on the replacement root. Porcelain crowns can replace your missing tooth and restore function and your charming smile.
Follow Up: Follow-up is crucial for successful implantation and recovery. Your dentist can use digital imaging to ensure the proper placement of the implant and crown.
The precision of computer-guided implant surgery enhances your comfort, eliminates risks, and delivers the best outcome. You get a brand-new replacement tooth in one day.
Does every dental implant need a surgical guide?
No! Surgical guides help improve the outcome of complex dental procedures, such as all-on-4 implants. Additional dental procedures like bone grafts can also complicate implant placements. In this case, a surgical guide can eliminate these complexities and reduce the risk of complications. A fully-guided oral surgery may not be necessary for a straightforward single-tooth implant.
How much is a surgical guide for dental implants?
The cost of surgical guides varies depending on the materials used and the complexity of the model. On average, surgical guides for dental implants cost between $275 and $700. Although guided dental implant surgery offers several benefits, acquiring digital imaging solutions is not cheap. As a result, most clinics outsource surgical guide development to other imaging centers. Toronto Smile Design is among a few clinics with the latest instruments for digitally guided surgeries, including Dentsply Sirona Orthophos S, Asiga Dental 3D Printer, and CEREC Primemill. Access to these instruments in your dentist's office reduces the overall cost of computer-guided dental implants.
Why would a dentist use a surgical stent during implant surgery?
Dental implants should be placed at an accurate pre-determined position to improve aesthetics and preserve surrounding structures. For example, dentists place dental implants at least 1.5 mm away from adjacent natural teeth. Your dentist can use a radiographic stent during planning to achieve this objective. This appliance helps visualize the planned implant axis and enhances accuracy in spacing and positioning. After completing treatment planning, a dentist can transform their radiographic stent into a surgical stent and use it as a visual guide during implant surgery. Surgical stents can help your dentist place a dental implant along the planned axis with precision. It also ensures accurate positioning and angulation of dental implants by visualizing the bone and vital structures around the site. Studies indicate that using surgical stents during implant surgery reduces the risk of failure and enhances aesthetics.
What is the success rate of a properly placed implant?
Properly placed dental implants have a high success rate of 95-98%. But the difference in density between the upper and lower jaw influences the success rate. About 98% of lower jaw implants can last for more than five years, while the five-year success of upper jaw implants is 95%. The upper jaw is less dense than the lower jaw, making implantation more difficult. Lower bone density also slows down the integration of the dental implant with the jaw bone through the osseointegration process. Maintain good oral hygiene and avoid counterproductive habits to hasten the healing process.
To avoid unnecessary risks, choose a qualified Dentist like Dr. Johnson for fully-guided dental implants.
Dr. Johnson Ozgur is a Toronto dentist with a Master's Degree in Oral Surgery, experienced in digital dentistry. You can rely on Dr. Johnson's expertise in guided dental implants, porcelain veneers, and 3D-printed devices. To enjoy the benefits of digital dentistry, contact our dental office today!
