On Thursday the 13th of August, Dr Charles van Niekerk, a Maxillo-Facial and Oral Surgeon at Cure Day Hospitals Bloemfontein, embarked on a pioneering dental implant procedure in collaboration with Southern Implants and Dura Art Dental Laboratories.
Conventional fully guided dental implant surgery, requires the purchase of a completely new surgical set.
Southern Implants has been working on a new innovative fully guided dental implant surgery drill concept to aid surgeons in efficient and accurate placement of dental implants, utilizing the existing drilling systems.
Technological developments within cone-beam computer tomography (CBCT), oral and jaw digital scanners, 3D virtual surgical planning software, 3D printers, and this new innovative surgical drill solution from Southern Implants allow for more accurate surgery and less surgical time in theatre.
The surgery was planned by Dr van Niekerk, utilising the expertise of Dura Art Dental Laboratories who designed and manufactured the surgical stents for the procedure. Southern Implants representative and engineer, Stuart Blackbeard attended the surgery to provide technical support for the new guided surgery system.
The case went extremely well, with 4x External Hex dental implants placed in the patient’s mandible. A small bone reduction procedure was performed using the bone reduction stent to ensure a flat surface for the dental implant placement. The full drilling procedure was guided by an implant surgical stent, resulting in quick and accurate positioning of the osteotomies as planned.
This surgery marked the very first full arch, fully guided dental implant surgery, utilizing the new Fully Guided Dental Implant Surgery concept, earmarking a new benchmark in guided dental implant surgery and patient treatment. It was a fantastic opportunity to perform this surgery at the Cure Day Hospitals in Bloemfontein with their excellent facilities and support.
