Surgical guides for dental implants – why is it important?

Surgical guides are the best kept secret about dental implants. Most clinics have a difficulty offering surgical guides and they will do everything they can to make you think how they are “not obligatory”, an “unnecessary expense” and so on. The question to those who say that should be – “Better with them or without them?”. Follow closely what the answer is.

If you have read our posts or watched the videos “How to choose implants?” and “Are implants right for me?” you probably already know that the most common cause of implant failure is non-compliance with the medical protocol. It is indeed surgical guides that ensure compliance with the protocol and for this reason they are the one thing you should require in any implant treatment. Thanks to surgical guides the implantation is minimally invasive, eliminating human error, significantly improving recovery and reducing post-surgery pain. 

The process of creating the surgical guide requires state-of-the-art 3D technology, equipment, as well as the joint work of a skilled lab technician and a surgeon.

Unfortunately, in Bulgaria, as in many other places in Europe, they are rarely utilized. In the United States, however, it is difficult to find a clinic that would offer an implant treatment without surgical guides. Besides the advantages mentioned above they are deemed to provide additional guarantee to the doctor that he has done everything possible for a successful treatment, and also provide legal protection for this very reason. 

What exactly are the surgical guides? This is a mold that looks like a dental splint with one, two or more holes used for placing the implants:

They are made with the help of a special software for three-dimensional (3D) modeling, calculating accurate positioning of the implant (direction, depth and diameter). The production finishes with a 3D printer creating the surgical guides from a special bio-compatible resin, which is allowing disinfection and sterilization.

The planning process involves a surgeon and a dental technician as well as expensive equipment. In practice, software integrates the 3D images from the CBCT scanner and the digital image scanned from your mouth, using a modern 3D intraoral scanner.
Scanning with 3Shape intraoral scanner in Sofia Implant Center:

Surgical guides planning software:

During the process surgeons can plan the precise position, size and direction of the implant, so that it reflects the specifics of your individual case. The chance of a human error is significantly reduced because the implantation follows a strict plan, without the possibility of improvisation. Moreover, the surgical incision is made with a special tool and is significantly smaller and fully accurate, which means faster and less painful recovery.

Here is an example of an implant, placed with a surgical guide. The incision is made with a special tool exactly matching the position of the future implant:

Here’s how it is proceeded without a surgical guide:

An implant surgery with guides requires a specially skilled surgeon, different surgery tools and techniques, unlike the ones used in the standard implant procedure.

So our advice is – for a painless and successful implant treatment, do ask for a surgical guide. Beware that if you are not offered one, that should be a red light that the success of your treatment is not the highest priority of your doctor or clinic.

Get your free individual treatment plan today!