Clinical application of a digital positioning guide template during the extraction of maxillary wholly impacted supernumerary teeth

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of positioning guide templates for maxillary wholly impacted supernumerary teeth to provide technological solutions for clinical applications. Methods After approval by the hospital ethics committee and informed consent given by the patients. Data from 136 patients with maxillary wholly impacted supernumerary teeth from January 2016 to April 2022 were analyzed retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups according to the usage of the positioning guide template. The experimental group included patients using the positioning guide template (71 cases), and the control group did not use the positioning guide template (65 cases). The operation time and complications were statistically analyzed to evaluate the clinical efficacy after surgery. Results All operations were successfully completed. The average operation time in the experimental group was (21.5 ± 3.4) min, significantly shorter than that in the control group (27.2 ± 4.9) min. There were statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups (t = 7.599, P<0.001). One week after the operation, there were no complications in the experimental group, and there were 2 cases of adjacent tooth injury and 3 cases of gingival numbness in the control group. Conclusion A digital positioning guide template can effectively shorten the time of maxillary wholly impacted supernumerary teeth extraction and is an effective means to assist clinical maxillary wholly impacted supernumerary teeth extraction.

Keywords

• digital technology
• digital positioning guide template
• surgical approach
• wholly impacted supernumerary teeth
• guide template
• positioning
• minimally invasive tooth extraction
• 3d printing