CAD/CAM fabrication and clinical application of mucosa-supported template for the edentulous maxilla

In the field of implant dentistry, there is a trend that more and more edentulous patients accept the computer-aided diagnostics and template-guided flapless surgery in the rehabilitation of the edentulous jaw. In this study, a novel implant surgery support method was developed for the implant insertion and fabrication of mucosa-supported surgical template that helps in drilling bone. With the registration technique, the CT three-dimensional model from CT data and digital plaster model were assembled together. The three-dimensional analysis and virtual implant planning were performed with the Simplant software. Then, on the basis of preoperative planning information, the mucosa-supported surgical template was designed and finally fabricated via the rapid prototyping technique. A clinical case reported for an edentulous patient demonstrated the reliability and validity of this technology, worthy of clinical application.