Accuracy of a direct drill-guiding system with minimal tolerance of surgical instruments used for implant surgery: a prospective clinical study

PURPOSE. A recently introduced direct drill-guiding implant surgery system features minimal tolerance of surgical instruments in the metal sleeve by using shank-modified drills and a sleeve-incorporated stereolithographic guide template. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of this new guided surgery system in partially edentulous patients using geometric analyses. MATERIALS AND METHODS. For the study, 21 implants were placed in 11 consecutive patients using the direct drill-guiding implant surgery system. The stereolithographic surgical guide was fabricated using cone-beam computed tomography, digital scanning, computer-aided design and computer-assisted manufacturing, and additive manufacturing processes. After surgery, the positional and angular deviations between planned and placed implants were measured at the abutment level using implant-planning software. The Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare the deviations (alpha=.05). RESULTS. The mean horizontal deviations were 0.593 mm (SD 0.238) mesiodistally and 0.691 mm (SD 0.344) buccolingually. The Mean vertical deviation was 0.925 mm (SD 0.376) occlusogingivally. The vertical deviation was significantly larger than the horizontal deviation (P=.018). The mean angular deviation was 2.024 degrees (SD 0.942) mesiodistally and 2.390 degrees (SD 1.142) buccolingually. CONCLUSION. The direct drill-guiding implant surgery system demonstrates high accuracy in placing implants. Use of the drill shank as the guiding component is an effective way for reducing tolerance.