Types of implant surgical guides in dentistry: a review

Various techniques have been proposed for the fabrication of surgical guide templates in implant dentistry. The objective of this paper is to review the associated literature and recent advancements in this field, based on design concept. An electronic and hand search of the literature revealed 3 categories, namely, nonlimiting, partially limiting, and completely limiting design. Most clinicians still adopt the partially limiting design due to its cost-effectiveness and credibility. Moreover, clinicians use cross-sectional imaging during the preimplant assessment of surgical sites.