Plan the implant before you place it!!

Many people who have decorated a house or even a room know that meticulous planning insures predictable results. Before we even pick up a hammer we understand that we need to begin with the end in mind. All the details must be thought out BEFORE we start.

The same holds true with Implants. It may seem intuitive that when we lose a tooth the next step is to place the implant but this is not the case as I will explain. What needs to be done is to plan the final tooth position and then go back and place the implant in the correct position relative to the crown.

 Today with the use of sophisticated 3D Planning Software we can plan our implant positions much more precisely.

Above, we see a model of a patient missing one tooth on your left and two teeth on your right. This was done by taking a simple impression, pouring the model in stone and then digitally scanning the model with a special digital scanner.

We then add the above  digital model into our 3D Planning software and add in “virtual teeth” The white teeth are the planned position of the new teeth.

Below is the 3D scan of the upper teeth. It is the scan of the actual bone.

Here is the stone model (Red) superimposed on the Bone Model (yellow)

Below is cross section of the Bone model showing the implant position relative to the tooth position.

A surgical guide is made from a 3D printer (white)

Below, the tube guides the implant to the exact postion planned in the software

Side View Below showing how the tube precisely guides the implant to the planned position.