Current Status and Future Prospects of Implant Simulation and the Digital Workflow

<p>In recent years, digital workflows for guided surgery, optical impression-taking with an intraoral scanner, custom abutments using CAD/CAM systems, and fabrication of superstructures have been examined for digitizing implant treatment. The objective is to avoid technical and engineering errors in surgical treatment and indirect methods so that the same results can be achieved by anyone. As a result, safe and secure implant treatment has become possible, and improvements have been made in terms of optical impressions, the accuracy and method of CAD/CAM systems, and materials ; the digital approach has brought benefits compared to the analog.</p><p>The purpose of implant treatment is to provide prostheses to restore occlusal support and function, and to improve esthetics and the patient's quality of life. This requires not only simulating the position, direction, and depth of implant placement, but also reconstructing the occlusal height, occlusal plane, occlusal curvature, jaw movement, etc. in order to construct the superstructure. It is important to formulate a treatment plan that includes these elements. Based on the literature, we have studied clinical practice based on our knowledge and experience. However, examinations and diagnoses related to treatment plans, such as panorama, cephalogram, and jaw movement imaging, are often performed by independent analogs.</p><p>We consider that digitization should combine data that has been independently examined and diagnosed into one three dimensional data, to assist the initial examination and diagnosis as an index, and to reduce the differences from past studies.</p>