Differences Between Impression Stone Pouring and Digital Pouring in Fully Guided Dental Implant Surgery: A...

Modern clinical protocols in implantology aim to reduce the duration and discomfort of the surgical phase while preserving excellent treatment results. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical differences between impression stone pouring and impression digital pouring required for surgical guide fabrication in fully guided dental implant surgery. This study was conducted for partially edentulous patients with straightforward cases who did not require bone or soft tissue augmentation. Forty dental implants were installed in 14 patients (age range: 25-70 y) at the Dental Implant Unit, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Center, Gazi Alhariri Teaching Hospital, Medical City, Baghdad. The dental implants were guided into the most prosthetically suitable position using a surgical guide. Twenty of them were guided by conventional impression stone pouring to create the surgical guide, whereas the other 20 implants were installed using digital pouring for the dental impression to fabricate the surgical guide. The mean for impression stone pouring in regard to angular deviation of 4.33±3.435 degree, the depth difference was 1.29±0.90 mm and entry point deviation 0.99±0.84 mm. In contrast, the mean for digital pouring in regard to angular deviation of 3.34±2.10 degree, depth difference was 0.89±0.67 mm and entry point deviation was 0.83±0.61 mm. This study revealed that there was no significant difference between the 2 groups regarding all 3 variables at a P-value of 0.05. Neither biological nor mechanical complications occurred.