Tooth-supported

The tooth-supported guide technique is also minimally invasive, but as the name suggests, requires the patient to have some remaining teeth on which to support the drill guide. This technique works well for a single missing tooth or a few missing teeth with adjacent strong and healthy teeth.

The custom-made drill guide will be fabricated based on a prosthesis that fits your existing teeth and gums exactly. Your dentist will then refer you for a CT scan at a dedicated scan centre where they will take scans of your jaw(s) with the prosthesis in place. They will then take a scan of the prosthesis by itself. It is also likely that your dentist will take an impression of your mouth in order to create a plaster model replicating your mouth. This will also be used in the guide manufacturing process.

Using the computer aided design software, your dentist will then plan the exact placement of the implants in a virtual environment. Once this is complete, the drill guide is fabricated; its shape will be that of the original prosthesis but with drill holes to fit the planned implants.

In surgery, your dentist will place the drill guide over your teeth gums and drill the holes for the implants through the holes in the guide, ensuring accurate placement of the implants, which is checked by the dentist. Once the holes are drilled, the guide is removed and the implants are placed. The abutments (connection between the implant and the crown or bridge) are attached to the implant, and the crowns or bridges placed on top of that.