Dental implantation is an effective treatment for tooth loss, as compared to the conventional bridge-type restoration therapy. But, do you know how dentists place the implant into your mouth jaw. They use a mouth mirror to examine the surgical site and the neighboring teeth to determine the drilling direction. And then they drill a hole freehand to prepare the implant site. Therefore, the implant direction solely depends on their handcraft skill. What if there is misalignment? Well, you may experience the subsequent tedious prosthetic treatment to recover surgery defect. Optimistically, guided implantology is going to reshape the art of dental surgery to transform conventional freehand drilling to a new level of guidance implantation. The new standard involves many high-tech devices, hardware as well as software, as shown in the figures. First, you will be asked to have CT scanned. In no time, your scan data will be transferred to the 3D planning software to visualize your bone condition. Dentists will use the software to simulate possible treatments by selecting different implant sizes and implant directions to fit your prosthetic function. The optimal implant direction will then be transferred to a surgical guide made by acrylic material with precise metal guiding holes. The guide will fit securely on your teeth during surgery to provide drilling guidance. Not freehand anymore, dentists will direct the drill under guidance to precisely place the implant for you as planned.

Advantages of guided implantology include:

• Reduced pain due to less invasive and flapless procedure
• Increased accuracy of implant placement leading to prolonged implant life and better esthetic outcome
• Immediate temporary provision
• Shorter treatment time and surgery time
• Lower complicate rate
• More predictable treatment outcome