What is a surgical implant template?

What is a surgical implant template?

Today, digital devices and programs such as 3D scanner, 3D printer and digital modeling software are gaining more and more recognition in dentistry.

Now dentists have the opportunity to make the most accurate, targeted and microinvasive use of all implantation opportunities.

The success of the surgical manipulation primarily depends on the exact position of the implant in the jawbone (point and direction of implant integration).

Innovative invention – surgical template for implantation – allowed to achieve the most accurate positioning of the implant during the surgery.

1. What is a surgical template for implantation?

A surgical template is a polymer plastic construction that visually resembles a mouthguard. Such templates are made for each person personally according to a digital model that considers all the individual features of the patient. The model is created based on a 3D image and CT scan of the patient’s dentition. At the stage of modeling the dentition, the right position of the orthopedic structure and implant is determined.

When making a surgical template for implantation, holes (tunnels) are reproduced on it, where special sleeves are installed. They, in turn, set the position and direction for the implants, allowing the implant surgeon to perform an error-free implantation.

Templates for implantation differ in material, design, and manufacturing technology. Polymer plastic and acrylic products are used in dentistry. Surgical templates are made in a vacuum molder, by 3D printing, and using Cad/Cam technology. The last method is the most expensive.

The template design depends on the patient’s dentition – with support for the remaining teeth or with support for the jaw (in case of full adentia).

Nowadays, the use of surgical templates in dental implantation is considered a standard, because this technology virtually excludes errors and related complications. Surgical templates for implantation are used in the following cases:

  • complete adentia of the dentition;
  • in case of simultaneous installation of several implants;
  • in case of bone tissue wear (for precise positioning of the implant in the area that can withstand such a load without the use of osteoplasty);
  • in case of anatomical features of the jaw structure, malocclusion;
  • for implantation in the smile area, where the aesthetic result is essential.

 

Advantages of using surgical templates in dentistry:

  • reduction of surgical intervention time;
  • reducing the trauma of implantation;
  • error exclusion;
  • improving the efficiency of implantation (the risk of rejection is minimal);
  • rapid implant engraftment; exclusion of complications such as nerve damage, contact with the roots of the teeth, perforation of the floor of the maxillary sinus;
  • optimal direction of the implant axes for the reliability and efficiency of future prosthetics; the ability to model the results of prosthetics already at the stage of implant planning and template manufacturing, which simplifies the work of the implantologist-prosthetist and dental technician.

The main stages

  1. Diagnostics. The goal is to get an imprint of the patient’s jaws. Modern dentistry uses digital diagnostics (computed tomography). It gives a 3D image of the dentition, which is used in further modeling, allowing to create surgical templates, prostheses, metal-ceramic crowns and other orthopedic structures.
  2. Digital modeling. The implantologist, together with the dental technician, determines the optimal positioning of the implants based on a three-dimensional image of the jaw in a special program.
  3. Making a template in a dental laboratory. The parameters of the digital model are transferred to the 3D printer, and the process of “printing” the surgical template from plastic is launched.
  4. Placement. The surgical template for implantation is placed on the patient’s jaw in the same way as removable dentures. Through the tunnels in the template, the doctor makes holes in the jawbone, into which the implants will be subsequently placed.