Three-dimensional navigation in oral implantology: A preliminary investigation

With the help of new support technology, oral implants can be planned and carried out in altogether new dimensions. The clinician is no longer restricted to his or her experience and the use of two-dimensional image-based procedures. The Stryker Leibinger navigation system now enables surgical planning based on three-dimensional models that can be endlessly manipulated; it produces an intraoperative view of the surgical field (online in real time). The aim of this study was to test a new surgical procedure with the use of a modified system that promises to be safer, more finely controlled, less complicated, and more valid in terms of predictive success than conventional procedures. In this preliminary investigation, the comprehensive system specifications are presented and a critical assessment of the procedural performance and potential is made.