| Potential dental implant site assessment is initially determined clinically. Subsequent radiographic assessment also provides information about the quantity of available bone. It was hypothesized that the use of radiographic markers in mandibular stents to project the clinically derived placement of implant fixtures would not correspond to the optimal trajectory of the fixture based on acceptable implant placement criteria applied on Cone Beam Computed Tomography images. A retrospective audit of patients with edentulous mandibles scanned with a surgical guide was completed. A total of 218 potential implant sites in 77 patients were evaluated utilizing an implant planning software package (EZ Guide V1.3 Aspen Dental, Burlington, MA). Projections were found to deviate from optimal placement in more than 93% of sites. In more than 75% of such sites, the clinically projected position was buccal to optimal placement. The results suggest that clinical assessment alone is inadequate to project optimal implant fixture position.KEY WORDS: dental implant, CBCT, cone beam, radiographic marker, projection... |
