Computer-assisted imaging for virtual implant planning

Acquiring reliable digital data from patient oral cavity is one of the keys to obtaining a precise outcome following virtual implant planning. For that means, clinicians need 2 types of data: virtual jaw replicas, delivered as surface scans, and medical images from hard and soft tissue anatomies. On one side, knowledge of bone topography and soft tissue thickness is undoubtedly necessary when planning implant surgery. Moreover, to improve diagnosis, CBCT studies can be imported into a computer to customize parameters such as: brightness, contrast, distance between slices and panoramic curve. Therefore, a universal medical language has been established to facilitate communication and image sharing processes: the DICOM file. On the other side, implant surgery should also be driven by a prosthetic plan. For that means, information from patient jaws is needed to set up said plan and fabricate a template to reproduce it. This information should come from virtual replicas of the oral cavity and not from CBCT images, as surface definition of tooth and mucosa tends to be poor in these studies; especially at the occlusal level. Moreover, metal restorations can cause great distortion over medical images whenever present in the oral cavity. Thus, surface scans obtained from optical scanners delivered as STL files, help overcome this issue. Correct merging of these two digital files (DICOM and STL) is another key factor to obtaining a precise outcome following virtual implant planning.