A diagnostic stent for endosseous implants to improve conventional tomographic radiographs

Conventional tomographic radiographs can often provide sufficient information for presurgical evaluation for implant placement with significantly less radiation exposure than computer-assisted tomographic (CT) radiographs. A technique to fabricate a diagnostic stent with a removable indicator for the partially edentulous patient is described. This stent with an indicator guides the radiologist in making conventional tomographic images and can also be used as a template for locating the surgical sites.