Intraoral Scanning as an Alternative to Evaluate the Accuracy of Dental Implant Placements in Partially Edentate Situations: A Prospective Clinical Case Series

(1) Background: For years, Cone-Beam Computed Tomography's (CBCT) have been the golden standard to evaluate implant placement accuracy. By validating Intraoral Scans (IOS) as an alternative to determine implant placement accuracy, a second CBCT could be avoided. (2) Methods: Using dynamic guided implant surgery, 23 implants were placed in 16 partially edentate patients. Preoperatively, both CBCT and IOS (Trios (R) 3) were obtained and subsequently imported into DTX StudioTM planning software to determine the ideal implant location. A CBCT scan and an IOS including scan abutments were acquired immediately after placement. Both postoperative CBCT and postoperative IOS were used to compare the achieved implant position with the planned implant position and were projected and analyzed using the Implant Position Orthogonal Projection (IPOP) method. (3) Results: Mean differences between the CBCT and IOS methods on the mesio-distal plane were 0.09 mm (p = 0.419) at the tip, 0.01 mm (p = 0.910) at the shoulder, -0.55 degrees (p = 0.273) in angulation, and 0.2 mm (p = 0.280) in implant depth. Mean differences between both methods on the bucco-lingual/bucco-palatal plane were 0.25 mm (p = 0.000) at the tip, 0.12 mm (p = 0.011) at the shoulder, -0.81 degrees (p = 0.002) in angulation, and 0.17 mm (p = 0.372) in implant depth. A statistical analysis was performed using a paired t-test. All mesiodistal deviations between the two methods showed no significant differences (p > 0.05). Buccolingual/buccopalatal deviations showed no significant difference in implant depth deviation. However, significant differences were found at the tip, shoulder, and angulation (p < 0.05). These values are of minimal clinical significance. (4) Conclusions: This study supports the hypothesis that a postoperative IOS is a valid alternative for determining implant placement accuracy.

Automated summary

This study confirms the hypothesis that a postoperative intraoral scan is a valid alternative for determining implant placement accuracy.