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Implant dentistry · 3D guided
Guided implant surgery places a dental implant through a 3D-printed surgical guide, made from your CBCT and intra-oral scans, so the implant goes exactly where it was planned on screen. We use it at Sardinia House in Holborn for single teeth and full arches. The surgery is usually shorter and gentler than freehand placement. Consultation from £150; implant from £1,500.
Guide fee
Implant from £1,500
Planned from
CBCT and intra-oral scans, merged
Guide made
In-house, on SprintRay printers
With
Dr Shivan Dave, Dr Adam White, Dr Jonathan Davies
Who it is for
In the smile line a millimetre matters. The angle and depth of the implant decide how the crown emerges from the gum and whether it looks like the tooth beside it. A guide fixes those decisions before the surgery begins.
Where bone is narrow, a nerve runs close or neighbouring roots lean in, a guide keeps the implant inside the safe space the scan has mapped. It removes much of the judgement that freehand surgery has to make in the moment.
When implants must sit parallel to carry a bridge or a full arch, the guide keeps each one on its planned line. That makes the final teeth easier to design, easier to fit and easier to keep clean.
Guided placement often needs no cut in the gum at all, only a small opening the width of the implant. Less surgery usually means less swelling, less bruising and an easier few days afterwards.
The difference
Your CBCT scan shows the bone; the Primescan or iTero™ scan shows the teeth and gum. We merge them on screen and design the final crown first, then position the implant to support it. Planning starts from the tooth you will see, rather than from the bone.
The planned guide is printed on our SprintRay printers in the practice. Because it is made here, the dentist who designed it checks its fit on a model of your teeth before you come in for surgery, and can reprint it if anything is not right.
Because the implant lands where the plan put it, the crown drawn up at the start can be made with confidence, on site or by a master ceramist. Fewer compromises on angle mean a better-looking tooth that is easier to clean around.
Implant plans for complex cases are reviewed with colleagues at our peer-review sessions before the guide is printed. A second clinician sometimes joins the surgery itself, with Dr Shivan Dave in charge and keeping the stages in order.
The process
We take a CBCT scan and an intra-oral scan at the first visit and examine the gap, the gums and your bite. You see both scans on screen and we explain whether a guided approach suits your case.
The scans are merged and the implant is positioned digitally, with the crown designed around it. You receive a written plan with the fee for each stage before anything is printed or booked.
The guide is printed in-house and tried on a model of your teeth. Any adjustment is made before surgery day, so the appointment itself is short and predictable, with no decisions left to make in the chair.
Under local anaesthetic, with sedation if you choose, the guide is seated over your teeth and the implant is placed through it to the planned depth. A single guided implant is usually placed in well under an hour.
After a healing period of a few months, the implant is scanned and the crown is made from the scan and fitted. Because the position matched the plan, the fit is normally close and needs little adjustment.
Afterwards
Because the gum is usually disturbed very little, many people feel much as normal within a day or two, with mild tenderness and perhaps some swelling. Take the painkillers we suggest, keep the site clean with the mouthwash we recommend and avoid chewing on it until we have checked it. Smoking slows healing considerably, so we ask you to stop around the time of surgery.
Guide fees
Guide fees. Nothing is started until your plan, with every fee written down, is in your hands. See all fees
Who provides it
Dr Shivan DaveImplant and Restorative DentistDental implants, oral surgery, wisdom teeth and restorative dentistry.
Dr Adam WhiteCosmetic and Restorative DentistComposite bonding, veneers, implants and full-mouth rehabilitation.
Dr Jonathan DaviesImplant Surgeon · Restorative DentistDental implants, full-arch restoration, bone grafting and tooth wear.Good to know
In freehand surgery the dentist judges position, angle and depth by eye and experience during the procedure. In guided surgery those decisions are made in advance on the merged scans, and a printed guide holds the drill to that plan. The implant is the same; the route to placing it is more predictable.
Our guide fee for the implant is from £1,500 whether it is placed freehand or through a guide, and the crown is from £2,000. The CBCT scan, from £195, is part of planning either way. Your written plan sets out the exact figures before anything starts.
The area is numbed first, so you notice pressure and vibration but not pain, and sedation can be arranged if you would rather. A single guided implant is usually placed in well under an hour, and because the gum is barely disturbed, recovery tends to be quicker than after freehand placement.
The guide keeps the drill within the space the scan has shown to be safe, away from nerves, sinuses and neighbouring roots, so it reduces the chance of a surprise. No surgery is without risk, and we discuss the risks of your particular case in full before you decide.
Sometimes. A temporary tooth or bridge can be fitted on the day in selected cases, particularly where several implants share the load. Whether this suits you depends on how firm the implant is at placement, which we judge at the time, and we tell you in advance what to expect.
Here at Sardinia House in Holborn, on our own SprintRay 3D printers. The same dentist who planned your implant checks the printed guide against a model of your teeth before surgery, so nothing is sent away and nothing is left to chance.
Yes, and it is particularly useful there, because several implants must be placed on parallel lines to carry a fixed bridge. The plan and the guide make that alignment predictable, and the final bridge can be designed before the first implant goes in.
Yes. Titanium implants are not magnetic, so they do not move or heat in an MRI scanner, and they rarely interfere with images of the head. Tell the radiographer that you have implants, as you would for any metal, and bring your implant passport if you have one.
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Dental Group