title: A general dentist's guide to proper dental implant placement from an oral surgeon's perspective.
abstract: This article is designed to help the general or restorative dentist more accurately predict proper implant placement by using palatal stents for the maxilla and lingual stents for the mandible, as well as parallel pin guides and vacupress stents, which help ensure both precise location and angulation. Because these stents and pin guides are easily used during surgery, the restorative dentist can prescribe with accuracy the exact position where the implants should be placed. To further the predictability of implant placement, especially in the anterior maxilla, an abutment can actually be placed into the pilot hole in the bone and checked with a vacupress stent before making the implant socket.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Shepherd
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D000044:Dental Abutments; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015921:Dental Implants; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D005792:General Practice, Dental; D006801:Humans; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D015607:Stents
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D015921:Dental Implants