Dr. Aldo De Blasi, Italy
Conventional mini implant surgery in the edentulous mandible is in most cases, a very quick and minimal invasive procedure. The implants are usually placed trans gingivally and if initial primary stability is achieved then they can be loaded immediately following the surgery.
Guided mini implant surgery makes the process even quicker and helps assure a more precise placement of the implants.
In the typical case, such as this one, we are dealing with a completely edentulous mandible and thus the guide has no existing teeth with which we can stabilize the guide. Accordingly the guide is stabilized by using lateral pins. The lateral pins are placed through sleeves that are perpendicular to the eventual implant placement.
Following fixation of the guide to the mandible, one is ready to preform mini implant osteotomies. The pilot drilling is done through the sleeves. Whereas in conventional guided surgery the drilling is made to the final depth of the implant, in this guided mini surgery the osteotomies are only about a third of the length of final implant placement. Whereas in conventional guided surgery the implant will be placed through the sleeves, in mini guided surgery we are only using the sleeves to guide the initial osteotomies. Once we have drilled all the pilot holes, the guide is removed and the implants are placed manually.
