3D printed anatomical models in the preliminary planification and execution of complex implant placement: a case report

Abstract

As times progress and technology advances, new levels of comfort are continually reached in all aspects of life. In medicine, this concept is reached by improving more and more patient’s quality of life by reducing treatment times, invasiveness, morbidity and long term stability of medical interventions. Advancing technology helps with new techniques and materials in achieving this goal, applying to all medical fields. In dentistry, combination of more durable materials and finer treatment strategies continues helping patients achieve levels of comfort which were unimaginable just a few decades back. Implantology and the world of implant-supported prosthesis has brought such an advancement that since its advent a stable growth curve is still observed to this day. This has brought patients to request this kind of rehabilitation even in very complex cases which require very skilled surgical techniques and often carry a very high risk of permanent physical damage. It’s the case in situations in which very atrophic osseous bases are in correspondence with important anatomical landmarks such as the maxillary sinus or the inferior alveolar nerve. Radiographic advancement has given the opportunity for careful planning with a precise tissue evaluation however, further innovation has brought to the possibility of tridimensional reproduction of these radiographic exams. This provides the professional with the possibility of performing the actual surgical intervention on the stereolithographic model itself and evaluate perfectly the surgical possibility of performing the planned intervention, further aiding professionals in the communication with patients.