I have always envied those around me who seem to always have perfect smiles without even trying, because I feel like I was born with "bad teeth." While my teeth are in great shape now, it is only because I take great care to visit the dentist every six months for a check-up and cleaning and maintain good oral hygiene habits at home. While I used to get a lot of cavities, even though I thought I was doing "everything right" to keep them away, I am proud to say that I have been cavity-free for a couple of years now! I put a lot of research into what daily habits can wreak havoc on my teeth, and I thought it would be a shame not to share what has helped me with others who need the advice. I plan to post many oral health tips on my new blog!
If you are planning on getting a dental implant, your dentist may need to create a surgical guide during your treatment. While implants should be placed in areas with sufficient bone density, dentists also need to consider the angulation of the implant as well as the neighboring anatomic structures. As the name implies, surgical guides help dentists pick the right positions for implant placement. Read on to learn more about surgical guides, how they are made, and how they can be beneficial during your procedure.
How Do They Work and How are They Made?
A surgical guide may be made out of acrylic or metal, and they look very similar to a retainer. Besides fitting snugly over your teeth and gums, these guides contain holes that outline exactly where an implant needs to be placed. During implant placement, your dentist will use the surgical guide to accurately drill into the tissue and place the implant body. Surgical guides aren't difficult to create; your dentist will take an impression of your mouth, and a dental lab will create a 3D cast from this impression. The dental lab will then scan the cast into CAD/CAM software and create the surgical guide around the 3D images. The surgical guide will be milled and sent back to the dentist.
What are the Benefits of Surgical Guides?
Surgical guides increase the accuracy of the procedure since your dentist doesn't have to place the implant freehand with only the guide of x-rays. Surgical guides may also shorten the overall appointment. Because surgical guides can increase the accuracy of angulation, there is a better chance that the dental implant will integrate with the surrounding bone tissue.
Can Anyone Have a Surgical Guide During Their Procedure?
In the past, a person may have needed a few remaining teeth to act as anchors for the surgical guide (known as a tooth-borne guide). However, patients with edentulous arches, or mouths lacking teeth, can now have surgical guides fabricated. Instead of creating a surgical guide from the remaining teeth, a dentist may use a patient's prosthetic, like a denture, to make an impression for a surgical guide called a mucosal-borne guide. Mucosal-borne guides are slightly less accurate than tooth-borne guides, but they are still helpful during implant placement. If a patient currently has teeth that need to be removed, a dentist may opt for a serial extraction phase, where a surgical guide is created around planned extractions and different prosthetics.
Lastly, if there are no teeth or prostheses to create a surgical guide from, a dentist may opt for a bone-borne guide. To make these guides, a dentist will take cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images and a guide will be fabricated to fit around anatomical landmarks on the jawbone. These guides can increase surgical accuracy, but the overall surgery may be more complex as a dentist will need to create more surgical gum flaps to access the underlying jawbone before placing the guide.
Reach out to dental offices like Hurley Nicholas J DDS PA today for more information on your implant procedure.
Share31 August 2023
