How much does experience in guided implant surgery play a role in accuracy? A randomized controlled pilot study

Area of Science:

• Dental Implantology
• Surgical Education
• Medical Device Accuracy

Background:

• The impact of surgical experience on dental implant accuracy remains debated in current literature.
• Variability in outcomes suggests a need to quantify the influence of surgeon experience on implant placement precision.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively assess and compare the accuracy of dental implant insertion between inexperienced and experienced surgeons.
• To evaluate the influence of surgical experience on both implant positioning accuracy and overall positioning error.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving inexperienced (33 implants) and experienced (37 implants) surgeons.
• Analysis of pre- and post-surgical computed tomography (CT) scans to measure coronal, apical, and angular deviations.
• Statistical comparison using t-tests to determine significant differences in accuracy and positioning error (P≤0.05).

Main Results:

• No statistically significant differences were found in mean coronal (P=0.125), apical (P=0.060), or angular (P=0.859) deviations between the groups.
• A statistically significant reduction in positioning error was observed in the experienced group (P=0.000).
• Experienced surgeons demonstrated a mean positioning error of 0.60mm (coronal), 0.67mm (apical), and 3.21° (angular), compared to 0.75mm, 1.02mm, and 3.07° for inexperienced surgeons, respectively.

Conclusions:

• Surgical experience has a limited direct influence on the accuracy of dental implant placement in terms of deviation.
• However, experience significantly improves the precision of implant insertion by reducing the overall positioning error.
• These findings suggest that while basic accuracy may be similar, experienced surgeons achieve more consistent and predictable implant positioning.