Immediate Loading of Single Implants, Guided Surgery, and Intraoral Scanning: A Nonrandomized Study

Area of Science:

• Dental Implantology
• Prosthodontics
• Oral Surgery

Background:

• Immediate loading of dental implants is a common practice.
• Fully guided surgical procedures offer enhanced precision in implant placement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare clinical and esthetic outcomes of immediately loaded single implants placed with versus without fully guided surgery.
• Evaluate implant survival, bone loss, soft tissue changes, and esthetic scores.

Main Methods:

• A 1-year prospective nonrandomized study compared digital implant planning with fully guided surgery and immediate loading (DIL) versus freehand surgery with immediate loading (IL).
• Outcome measures included implant survival, marginal bone loss, soft tissue changes, papilla index, pink and white esthetic scores (PES and WES), and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).

Main Results:

• The DIL group had a 90.5% implant survival rate, while the IL group had no implant failures.
• The DIL group showed significantly higher papilla index scores and reduced soft tissue changes compared to the IL group.
• No significant differences were observed in marginal bone loss, PES, WES, or PROMs between the groups after 1 year.

Conclusions:

• Fully guided surgery combined with immediate implant loading may negatively impact implant survival.
• Immediate loading and fully guided surgery, utilizing a digital workflow, positively influence early soft tissue adaptation.