Accuracy of Template-Based Dental Implant Placement

Purpose: The accuracy of a system for image-guided dental implant planning and placement based on individually fabricated oral templates was investigated in a phantom study. Materials and Methods: The study was performed on identical phantoms of a partially edentulous mandible. In one phantom mandible (the master model), pilot boreholes for dental implants were placed. Computerized tomography image data were then acquired. Using a system for template-based dental implant placement, identical boreholes were planned on the image data and then reproduced in the 10 remaining phantom mandibles (the "slave" models). The resulting positions were compared to the positions in the master model using a three-dimensional digitizer arm. Results: The mean deviation of borehole apex positions in the slave phantoms, as compared to the master phantom, was 0.50 ± 0.04 mm and was below 1 mm in 29 of 30 models. The accuracy was highly reproducible, irrespective of the template used and the surgeon involved. Conclusions: The use of templates for image-guided insertion of dental implants is a method with high and reproducible accuracy Keywords: accuracy, dental implants, image-guided surgery, oral templates, stereotaxy