Flapless implant surgery in the edentulous jaw based on three fixed intraoral reference points and image-guided surgical templates: accuracy in human cadavers.

Objectives: In edentulous patients, accurate and stable positioning of a surgical template is impeded by the mobile mucosal tissue. The objective was to evaluate the accuracy of flapless computer-assisted template-guided surgery in an edentulous human cadaver specimen using three fixed oral reference points (FRP) for fixation of the registration mouthpiece and the consecutive surgical template.

Material And Methods: Oral implants were planned on the computed tomography (CT) of an edentulous human cadaver specimen. Surgical templates have been fabricated using a multipurpose navigation system. Both the registration mouthpiece and consecutive surgical template were supported via three FRP. Study implants were inserted through the guide sleeves and the accuracy was evaluated on a post-surgical CT of the cadaver jaws fused with the pre-surgical planning CT. A Matlab script enabled comparison of the planned surgical path with the study implants.

Results: In five maxillary and three mandibular edentulous human cadaver specimens, a total of 51 implants (35 implants in the maxilla and 16 implants in the mandible) have been placed. The mean+/-standard deviation total error (Euclidean distance)/lateral error (normal deviation) were 1.1+/-0.6/0.7+/-0.5 mm at the implant base and 1.2+/-0.7/0.9+/-0.7 mm at the implant tip. The mean angular error was 2.8+/-2.2 degrees.

Conclusions: Flapless surgery based on FRP-supported image-guided surgical templates may provide similar accuracy as reported for tooth-supported surgical templates or surgical navigation.