The influence of dental experience on a dental implant navigation system

Abstract

Background This study evaluated the operating performance of an implant navigation system used by dental students and dentists of prosthodontic background with varying levels of experience. A surgical navigation system and optical tracking system were used, and dentists’ accuracies were evaluated in terms of differences between the positions of actually drilled holes and those of the holes planned using software before surgeries. Methods The study participants were 5 dental students or dentists who had studied in the same university and hospital but had different experience levels regarding implants. All participants were trained in operating the AqNavi system in the beginning of the study. Subsequently, using 5 pairs of dental models, each participant drilled 5 implant holes at 6 partially edentulous positions (11, 17, 26, 31, 36, and 47). In total, each participant conducted 30 drilling tests. Results In total, 150 tests among 5 dentists at 6 tooth positions (11, 17, 26, 31, 36, and 47) were conducted. Although a comparison of the tests revealed significant differences in the longitudinal error (P < .0001) and angular error (P = .0011), no significant difference was observed in the total error among the dentists. Conclusions A relatively long operating time was associated with relatively little implant experience. Through the dental navigation system, dental students can be introduced to dental implant surgery earlier than what was possible in the past. The results demonstrated that the operational accuracy of the dental implant navigation system is not restricted by participants’ implant experience levels. The implant navigation system assists the dentist in the ability to accurately insert the dental implant into the correct position without being affected by his/her own experience of implant surgery.

In Vitro Accuracy of Static Guided Implant Surgery Measured by Optical Scan: Examining the Impact of Operator Experience

“…Therefore, we could examine the effect of the demographics of the dentist on the accuracy of static guided implant surgery. For dynamic computer-guided navigation systems, junior dentists or dental students were reported to have better performance in terms of the accuracy of implant placement [26,27]; However, we did not find similar studies for the static guided implant surgery in the literature. The effect of age on the accuracy of static guided implant surgery remains an issue to be clarified.…”

Accuracy assessment of dynamic computer–aided implant placement: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Figure 2 shows the complete flowchart of the study selection process. Of the 24 articles, 10 reported on clinical studies involving humans [43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52] and 14 reported on preclinical "in vitro" studies [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66]. The types of studies included for each system can be observed in Table 2.…”

Accuracy of dynamic navigation compared to static surgical guide for dental implant placement

“…When we analyzed the different surgeons in the dynamic navigation group, we found that there was no statistical difference in the influence of different experience levels of the surgeons on accuracy. Sun et al proved that the implant navigation system could help a dentist to insert the implant into the correct position accurately, without the influence of the operational experience [21]. Rungcharassaeng et al compared experienced with inexperienced surgeons in the accuracy of dental supported static surgical guide templates, and the results showed no significant difference [22].…”