Radiopaque marker impression and 3D Boolean inversion for metal artifact-distorted same-day implant planning: a digital workflow.

Abstract

The present article describes a dental implant planning workflow to solve the CBCT artifact problem. The technique uses a radiopaque 3D-printed tray to take impressions and complete data alignment of the dental arches where implants are planned. From the impressions, 3D Boolean inversion is performed to obtain the surface mesh of teeth and virtually remove the undercut of dentition mesh before an implant surgical guide is designed. The trueness and precision of 3D alignment are then compared with the original radiographic template alignment using the double-scan method. In the present study, the results showed that this method could improve alignment trueness and allow for the elimination of radiographic template making, reducing patient visits and making possible a same-day guided implant surgery.