Digital workflow for image-guided immediate implant placement by using the socket-shield technique and custom abutment in the esthetic area.

Marginal bone loss around immediately placed implants may compromise esthetic outcomes in the anterior maxilla. The relatively recent socket-shield technique of partial extraction therapy has been described as being useful to maintain the structure of peri-implant tissues. The present technique report introduced a digital workflow to perform image-guided implant placement after partial extraction therapy. In this technique, digital 3-dimensional images are used to plan and orient the flapless surgical procedure and to digitally design a custom abutment based on the natural emergence profile as segmented from the tooth to be extracted.

Digital workflow for low-cost 3D-printed custom healing abutment based on emergence profile CBCT segmentation.

Several protocols have been used with computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacture (CAD-CAM) prostheses after image-guided implant surgery based on a prosthetically driven surgical plan. For delayed approaches, a CAD-CAM custom healing abutment can be manufactured before the surgery and installed immediately after implant placement. However, information on the use of emergence profile segmentation on which to base the digital design and on the use of low-cost 3-dimensional printers to produce custom healing abutments are lacking. The purpose of this article was to present a fully digital workflow to digitally design and 3-dimensionally print custom healing abutments with a biocompatible light-polymerizing resin based on the natural emergence profile of the tooth to be replaced.

Digital workflow for definitive immediately loaded complete-arch CAD-CAM implant-supported prosthesis in 3 appointments without using intraoral scanning.

This article presents a rapid technique for the accurate transfer of implant positions immediately after image-guided surgery to enable the immediate installation of a definitive complete-arch implant-supported prosthesis with an implant biological width of 3 mm within 3 appointments. A sleeveless copy of the implant surgical guide is magnetically connected to a reference guide to ensure the accurate capture of cylindrical titanium transfer abutments. In the laboratory, the sleeveless guide with the splinted transfer abutments attached is used to generate a definitive cast to be scanned with a desktop scanner. The resulting digital definitive cast is then combined with the original meshes of the prosthetically driven virtual treatment plan to enable a definitive computer-aided design and computer-aided manufactured prosthesis to be fabricated and installed with passive fit.

Digital workflow for CAD-CAM custom abutments of immediate implants based on natural emergence profile of the tooth to be extracted.

The aim of this report is to present a digital workflow technique to design a customized abutment for provisionalization of an immediate-placed implant based on the natural emergence profile of the tooth to be extracted. The workflow involves the combination of intraoral and CBCT scans, from which three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions of soft tissue and alveolar bone, as well as of the tooth to be extracted are obtained and exported as STL files. The files are imported to a computer-aided design (CAD) software, in which a virtual wax-up and custom abutment design are performed considering the natural emergence profile of the patient's tooth prior to extraction. Since the customized abutment is digitally designed, it can also be used as a scan body, to be directly scanned intraorally after soft tissue healing around an interim implant restoration. The custom abutment digitally designed can be then produced by milling zirconia with an optimally chosen color, in accordance with the aesthetic needs of the patient.

Fully Digital Workflow with Magnetically Connected Guides for Full-Arch Implant Rehabilitation Following Guided Alveolar Ridge Reduction.

This technique report describes a fully digital workflow in which two surgical guides (i.e. one for alveolar bone reduction and the other for implant placement) are magnetically connected to ensure stability during full-arch implant surgery following guided bone reduction. Digital prosthesis design as well as virtual bone reduction and implant planning are developed from the superimposition of facial, intraoral and CBCT scans. With this technique, different surgical guides and interim poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) fixed prosthesis are precisely connected with magnets after being digitally designed and 3D-printed. As a result, such magnetic connection allows for satisfactory stability of the implant surgical guide, as well as of the interim fixed PMMA fixed prosthesis during capture of screw-retained abutments.

Clinical relevance of Digital Dentistry during COVID-19 outbreak: a scoped review

Aim: To perform a scoped literature review on advantages of digital workflows in dentistry that could be widely adopted to address safety issues raised during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: Recent studies on any advantages of digital dentistry ­ as compared to conventional methods ­ that could help addressing the new safety demands for dental treatments that emerged due to the current pandemic were included. PUBMED, Embase, and Web of Knowledge databases were searched for eligible articles published in the last five years. The guidelines of PRISMA statement were followed during data extraction and evaluation. Results: The present search strategy yielded 181 publications. After application of exclusion criteria, a total of 34 studies were finally considered eligible to be discussed. Among the most important advantages of digital dentistry that contribute to safety during the current pandemic are: reduced number of clinical appointments required, shorter chairside time, less invasive surgeries and safer procedures. Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, the findings observed herein suggest that the use of digital workflows in dentistry could lead to increased safety and reduced transmission of COVID-19 during the current pandemic