Dental imaging in implant treatment planning.

Objectives: Proper implant treatment planning remains the first priority for implant success. Dental imaging is an important tool to accomplish this task. Traditional radiographs provide adequate information about proposed implant sites; however, limited film size, image distortion, magnification, and a 2-D view restrict their use in some cases.

Implant surface treatment using biomimetic agents.

With an attempt at achieving faster osseointegration to hasten the overall treatment process, the use of biomimetic agents represents a growing area of research in implant dentistry. This study outlines 4 categories of bioactive agents that may be applied to coat the titanium implant surface: (1) biocompatible ceramics, (2) bioactive proteins, (3) ions, and (4) polymers, and their respective importance in the early stages of osseointegration. The potential bioactive agents investigated include bone morphogenetic proteins, growth factors, type I collagen, RGD peptide, fluoride, or chitosan, among others.

Implant surgery complications: etiology and treatment.

Implant surgery complications are frequent occurrences in dental practice and knowledge in the management of these cases is essential. The aim of this review was to highlight the challenges of treatment plan-related, anatomy-related, and procedure-related surgical complications as well as to discuss the etiology, management and treatment options to achieve a satisfactory treatment outcome.

Cortical bone thickness in dentate and edentulous human cadavers.

Background: A critical component of treatment planning in dental implant therapy is the amount of available bone. Thick cortical plates have been the primary way to achieve primary implant stability. However, information about cortical bone thickness in various regions of the maxilla and mandible is largely missing.

Accuracy of cone beam computed tomography for periodontal defect measurements.

Background: Periodontal diagnosis relies heavily on traditional two-dimensional radiographic assessment. Despite efforts in improving reliability, current methods of detecting bone level changes over time or determining three-dimensional architecture of osseous defects are inadequate. To address these issues, computed tomography (CT) has been explored because of its ability to produce accurate three-dimensional imaging, but limitations such as radiation, machine size, and cost have made this approach impractical.