Patient ‘V’, age 40, presented with an upper arch containing one remaining tooth, at position 14, a right upper pre-molar. When discussing the possible options with the patient we looked at the using of a denture. This was quickly set aside as the patient had issues with this type of prosthetic due to the following reasons: the patient has a severe gag reflex, the age of the patient meant long term there would be severe shrinkage of the bone adjacent to the denture, and dentures even when well placed can be uncomfortable. Finally the patient associated dentures with people much older than himself so I have to take into account the patients mental wellbeing.
Patient ‘V’ returned for a second consult after I suggested that the way to proceed would be for him to have five dental implants placed to be followed by a fixed prosthetic bridge. The patient agreed with this after considering the costs involved for him and the time required placing the implants with the prescribed six month waiting period before I can fix the prosthetic bridge.

When examining Patient’V’s upper arch it became obvious to me that the placing of the dental implants would not be easy as the upper arch structure was damaged from previous root extractions which made the gum and underlying bone structure uneven and indicated that placing dental implants in the traditional ‘blind’ method would not be conducive to a successful operation. When discussing this with Patient ‘V’ I explained the ideal option was for us to use Sheutz Dental Impla 3D Software for the planning and placing of the five dental implants. I explained to Patient ‘V’ there would be an extra step in the process of getting the implants done but I knew with the use of Sheutz Dental Impla 3D Software we would achieve greater accuracy for the placing of the dental implants. This would also enable us to use a Dental Implant Template Guide (DITG) when actually placing the five dental implants with all the correct angulations and depths pre-decided before we even began the surgery.