Navigation surgery for dental implants: Assessment of accuracy of the image guided implantology system

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the accuracy of the navigation provided by the Image Guided Implantology system (DenX Advanced Dental Systems, Moshav Ora, Israel), which was designed to guide the surgeon in the placement of dental implants. Materials and Methods: Seven jaw models incorporating special ceramic spheres were imaged by dental computerized tomography. The coordinates of these reference ceramic markers were calculated by the Image Guided Implantology and compared with their actual position coordinates as identified on the computed tomography image. Results: The overall mean spatial navigation error was 0.35 +/- 0.14 mm. The 1-tailed probability of any single measurement exceeding 0.75 mm was less than 0.003, and that exceeding 1 mm was less than 0.0001. Conclusion: The Image Guided Implantology system provides highly accurate navigation with less than 0.73 mm error, which is acceptable in dental implantology. The accurate reporting of the exact position of the drilling bur should minimize the potential risk of damage to critical anatomic structures. The accurate intraoperative navigation allows the surgeon to precisely transfer the presurgical plan to the patient. (C) 2004 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.