Root form dental implant therapy was introduced in Europe over 40 years ago, and in the mid 1980′s in North America. The journey from its inception to today has been revolutionary, with greater understanding of the biological process, advances in surgical adjunct procedures, implant design and the recent introduction of CAD CAM technologies in every facet of the treatment process.

Recent publications have indicated that the placement of implants fail to preserve hard tissue dimensions of the ridge following tooth extraction. Other publications describe that after tooth extraction without implant placement, the coronal portion of the ridge can sustain substantial reduction of the hard tissue volume irrespective of the procedure used to remove the tooth such as flapless or following flap elevation.

CT/CBCT scan technology has emerged as the pre-eminent method for viewing and understanding three-dimensional patient anatomy. As clinicians move from two-dimensional periapical and panoramic images into three-dimensional imaging offered through CT/CBCT technology, the need to correctly decipher these scans, discover the underlying anatomical landmarks, and plan cases properly for implant reconstruction has become apparent.