Fully Digitally Guided Implant Surgery Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether fully digitally guided implant surgery may be performed with sufficient accuracy based on printing virtually designed templates after matching a surface scan with the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dataset mimicking edentulous cases based on cadaver maxillae of pigs.

The palatal mucosa of five young pig cadavers was scanned with an intraoral scanner. High-resolution MRI of the jaws was performed, and the images were exported as DICOM files and uploaded into software for implant planning. Six implant osteotomies were virtually planned in each jaw. The intraoral surface scans were fused with the volumetric MRI data based on the palatal soft tissue, and virtual templates for guided implant surgery were created and exported as STL files. These were printed and the templates were used to perform flapless guided osteotomy, with the templates fitting on the soft tissue of the jaws alone. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) of the jaws was performed after osteotomy. These data were fused with the virtually planned osteotomies, and the 3D crestal, apical, and axial deviations between the virtually planned and physically performed osteotomies were determined.

Matching the surface scans with the mucosa was possible in three cases automatically; additional manual corrections were necessary in two cases. Thirty osteotomies were performed by applying the printed mucosa-supported templates. The mean angular deviation between the planned and realized cavities was 3.29 degrees (0.3 to 11.1 degrees; SD = 2.5 degrees), the mean 3D apical deviation was 1.3 mm (0.22 to 3.98 mm; SD = 0.94 mm), and the mean crestal deviation was 1.76 mm (0.39 to 3.79 mm; SD = 0.88 mm).

MRI in combination with the presented workflow may be used in edentulous cases for guided implant surgery. Further studies are needed to prove the promising accuracy of this alternative approach in clinical trials.