Computer aided flapless surgery for implant prosthodontic rehabilitation of edentulous patients : a clinical case report

Background The current guidelines for oral implantology aim to minimize surgical and prosthetic timing procedures and patient discomfort while preserving at the same time both quality and quantity of hard and soft tissues. A new surgical protocol, based on the concept of computer-aided flapless implant placement, has been recently presented, which complies to the above-mentioned purposes. Case report Implant position is pre-operatorily virtually planned through three-dimensional planning software based on functional and aesthetic demands related to the final prosthesis. The development of modern CT scan associated with CAD/CAM technology let the clinicians to transfer the virtual plan into the surgical environment. Surgical guides obtained with a rapid prototyping process allow the surgeon to perform a flapless surgery and an ideal implant placement in the planned position. Following this procedure, the present case-report shows an implant prosthodontic rehabilitation of an upper edentulous jaw, obtained using a computer-aided template-guided flapless implant placement followed by immediate loading. Computer-aided flapless implant surgery seems to provide several advantages to the clinicians, however a minimum safety distance from the limiting anatomical structures of at least 2 mm is recommended.