Static and Dynamic Navigation - “The Future Stars”

Abstract

Over the last few decades technological advancements have led to a significant impact over dentistry and the field of endodontics is no exception to it. It has covered a long way from apex locators and microscopes to digital radiography and intraoral scanners and finally navigation. “Guided Dentistry” term is used explicitly for navigation in dentistry. In the 19th century, navigation in the medical sciences first appeared and it was used to perform stereotactic surgery on the human brain. It was first used in dentistry in the year 2000 to facilitate the placement of dental implants. Navigation in endodontics is based on the concept of minimally invasive endodontics. Guided endodontics can also be called as “Targeted endodontic treatment”. Compared to standard treatment methods, guided endodontics can produce more predictable treatment results. Guided navigation in endodontics is of two types-Static and Dynamic. In Static Guided Endodontics (SGE) the CBCT scan is merged with optical scan to design a virtual drill path using a planning software following which a template is fabricated using 3-D printing. In Dynamic Navigation System (DNS), the virtual drill path is converted into a real time drill path using navigation software. Keywords: [Guided Endodontics, minimally invasive dentistry, Navigation, Static guided endodontics, Dynamic guided endodontics.]