Is Digital Guided Implant Surgery Accurate and Reliable?

Abstract

The digital workflow for computer-aided implant surgery includes a range of steps leading to generation of a prosthetically driven, 3-dimensional virtual plan, which is transitioned into the patient's mouth by the surgical guide and protocol. Guided implant surgery is believed to be accurate and reliable compared with free-handed implant surgery. However, deviation between implant virtual plan and implant real position may occur as a result of accumulated errors throughout the digital workflow. This article reviews the digital workflow of static computer-aided implant surgery. Factors that may affect the accuracy and clinical outcome of the guided surgery are also reviewed.

Keywords: Accuracy; Computer-aided surgery; Computer-assisted surgery; Dental implants; Digital workflow; Implant-guided surgery; Virtual plan.