Computerized design for implant position guide from any commercial implant planning software

Dental implants have been widely chosen for the treatment for persons who lost one, two or even several teeth. The planning for placing the implant in the suitable location, which concerned the bone properties and nerves, is the crucial part for this procedure. Many commercial softwares offer the function to assist dentists to visualize the right positioning. The result of the program can lead to create a piece of the implant position guide from solid freeform fabrication. However, this process must be sent out to company service center to produce the drill guide, which requires high cost. Therefore, Advanced Dental Technology Center (ADTEC), where has some facilities for this area, has developed the design software to link this process for rapid prototyping to offer the service to dental implant surgery in Thailand. The planning data from the commercial software: Simplant Plannertrade and patientpsilas CT data were transformed to STL model and then the program created the drill path model from planning position that can fit to patientpsilas dental cast for creating the custom-made drill guide. The results of the program showed that the position guide model was consistent to the implant path that planned in the commercial software. The implant position guide was exported to the rapid prototyping process to create the model, which perfectly fit on the patientpsilas cast.