Digital guided implants: what is it and why use it?
Why use digital guided implants?
The placement of a dental implant requires meticulous care in both the planning and execution. Detailed planning is best achieved using digital 3D X-ray technology. As a leading practice in the dental industry, MyDental Care is more than qualified to assist you with your digitally guided dental implant!
Digital 3D X-ray planning
Before we can consider a dental implant for a patient, we need to make sure that there is sufficient bone, and of adequate quality. To see how much bone is available, a 3D dental CT scan is taken. At MyDental Care, we have the latest high resolution, low radiation CT scanner so we can provide this information to you on-the-spot without the need for you to go into a radiology centre and then come back for a separate consultation, saving you time and hassle.
The 3D scan will allow us to visualise the potential implant site and any adjacent anatomic structures that are important to avoid. By combining the 3D X-ray with an optical scan of your teeth, we can get a very accurate virtual model with which to plan your case. We can plan everything from the brand of implant, diameter and length, angulation, whether bone grafting will be needed and the type of final restoration. Essentially, the surgery is already outlined digitally to make sure that there are no nasty surprises when it is time to do the real implant.
Placement of the implant
Once we are happy that we have planned your surgery optimally, the information that we have on file may then be used to make special guided surgical stents, where required, for the actual surgery. These precision custom guides are made in a high-tech lab in the U.S. to a very high degree of accuracy. The guides have metal tubes that precisely match the guided surgical drills ensuring correct angulation and depth control to enable ideal placement of the dental implant. Due to increased accuracy, some implants can be placed flapless, meaning no stitches or incisions are required but rather just a small hole made in the gum for the implant to be placed.
Book your appointment today
At MyDental Care in Meadowbank we will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have about digital guided implants. Please contact us to book your appointment.