Rehabilitation of a dentate mandible requiring a full arch rehabilitation. Immediate loading of a fixed complete denture on 8 implants placed with a bone-supported surgical computer-planned guide : a case report

The use of technologies that merge computerized tomography X-ray imaging and 3-dimensional (3D) planning software allow the surgeon to digitally elaborate on the computer the position, length, and diameter of every implant to be placed. Following this approach, the placement is guided in a 3D digital model, and the implants are placed in the final position avoiding eventual anatomic structures. In this case report, the patient's remaining mandibular teeth were extracted, and the patient received 8 implants with the help of a computer surgical guide. The case was planned using SimPlant and a bone-supported guide. Because of the high precision of the planning, it was possible to realize a provisional rehabilitation before the actual surgery. The planning allows placement of parallel implants to optimize the prosthetic procedure and outcome. An immediate provisional implant was fixed with a flow composite on the temporary abutments and then refined in the dental laboratory. The patient received the provisional rehabilitation the same day of the surgery. After 6 weeks of healing, the final impression was taken and the prosthesis was finalized with a computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing titanium full-arch screwed framework with composite veneering. A 6-month follow-up showed good integration of the prostheses and success of all 8 implants. The use of surgical computer-guided planning changes the surgeon's approach: whereas before the use of conventional guides permitted a certain degree of offset from what was planned, the use of computer guides allows the implant to be inserted in a far more precise way. It is obvious that careful planning is the key factor to avoid implant misplacement