Prosthetic Athletic Position: 3D Printing (243)

Digital workflows for full arch implant rehabilitations have recently become the subject of much research and practice. This is, in part, due to technological and material science advances over the past decade. Technologies like intra-oral scanners, face scanners, 3D printing, and photogrammetry devices are becoming more widespread. Remote anchorage surgical concepts like PATZi allow clinicians to successfully treat even the most atrophic patients with immediately loaded, same-day implant prostheses. This rapid and simultaneous advancement on the surgical, restorative, and laboratory fronts has resulted in a plethora of options in how to plan and treat patients. With so much innovation occurring in the full arch implant space, it can be a daunting task to make informed decisions regarding the particular protocols and workflows that best compliment their knowledge, skill, patient volume, and financial bottom lines. While all workflows share the same desired end goal, each route to getting there represents a series of trade-offs in terms of time, effort, predictability, contingency, and cost. No two patients are the same and things don’t always go as planned in full arch implant therapy, therefore it is essential to clinical long-term success to be nimble in our thinking and technologically prepared to pivot when the clinical situation dictates.