Dynamic 3D Navigation Implant Surgery

A/Prof Max Guazzato, Prosthodontist

When was the last time you opened the old UBD or Gregory’s Street directory and had your family shout out when you were driving to turn left or right to get to your destination? Do you even remember the old street directory? On the contrary, how often to you open Google Maps or use a GPS tracking system when you’re driving to see where you are positioned on a map? All the time? The future for oral surgery ‘GPS-like’ tracking is here.   
 
Surgical navigation technology in dental implantology allows the operator to plan implant positions on preoperative CBCT scans and to translate this to the patient precisely.  Live tracking of instrument positions, drill widths, depths and surgical implant placement allows the operator to place the implant into the pre-operative planned position. 
 
The current bulky surgical guides, plus sleeves and long burs are being replaced with dynamic 3D navigation surgery.  We now watch a computer screen to guide the placement without the presence of a physical guide. Dynamic 3D navigation provides more accuracy, more access to areas of the mouth where surgical guides cannot be used, optimisation of the available alveolar bone, potentially better aesthetics and design, less invasive procedures and more comfort for patient and operator. 
 
Join me in this lecture with my personal 30 years experience with dental implant surgery and 4 years using this novel 3D navigation technology.