High-Power Laser Application for Immediate Implant Placement in Infected Sites: A Systematic Review

Objective: The purpose of this study was to review the literatures regarding the treatment outcomes of applying laser to the infected sites in immediate implant placement. The review tended to primarily target a question: does applying high-power laser have any positive effect on infected sites in immediate implant placement? Background: Although immediate placement of dental implants has been referred to as a predictable and successful procedure, it is prone to the presence of infection that interferes with the healing process, and triggers the failure of implants. Materials and methods: A thorough electronic database search was conducted on PubMed/Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane library in compliance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. Two writers worked separately on screening the eligible studies, assessing whether there was a risk of bias, and extracting the required data. Results: Five out of the 60 studies nominated by the database search matched the inclusion criteria. The studies were carried out on a total of 192 patients with 296 implants in all. Ultimately, the study focused on 245 implants whose infected bed had been already decontaminated and prepared with the help of the high-intensity laser, used either alone or in combination with other approaches before implantation. With only nine failures, the implants inserted in infected and irradiated areas had a 96.3% overall survival rate. Conclusions: Taking the limitations of the review into account, the authors arrived at the conclusion that high-power laser irradiation can be beneficial for immediate implant placement in infected sites.

Accuracy of Digital Impression Taking Using Intraoral Scanner Versus the Conventional Technique

Objectives: Intraoral scanners have shown promising results when used as an adjunct or alternative to conventional impression techniques. This study compared the accuracy of digital impression taking using an intraoral scanner versus the conventional technique.

Materials and Methods: In this in-vitro experimental study, a typodont molar tooth was prepared as the standard model and scanned by TRIOS intraoral scanner. Ten digital impressions were fabricated as such and intraoral scans were sent to the manufacturers. In the conventional method, using addition silicone impression material, a stone die was fabricated. Using a computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing scanner, the die was scanned, and the data were transferred to the software. After the fabrication of frameworks, the replica technique was used. The replicas’ thickness (indicative of the gap between the framework and the model and the accuracy of impression taking) was 12 points. The data were analyzed using student's t-test.

Results: The mean thickness of replicas (gap between the internal surface of frameworks and the standard model) at the three points in the buccal, lingual, mesial, and distal sections in the digital impression technique was lower than that in the conventional technique (P<0.0001). In other words, the accuracy of impressions taken by the digital method was significantly higher than those taken by the conventional method.

Conclusion: Intraoral digital scanner had significantly higher accuracy than the conventional method in all points. Thus, the digital method can be reliably used as an adjunct or alternative to the conventional method to increase the accuracy of impression taking.