Work flow for the prosthetic rehabilitation of atrophic patients with a minimal-intervention CAD/CAM approach.

The implant-supported fixed rehabilitation of patients with an atrophic edentulous crest remains a challenge if bone augmentation is not planned. A minimal intervention approach for bone regeneration is necessary to minimize the flap overextension needed to close the defect over the augmented bone. Prosthetically guided bone regeneration can determine the amount of bone augmentation necessary for definitive prosthetic fixed rehabilitation. The positions of the implants and prosthetic restoration were planned; a 0.3 mm thick titanium mesh was customized for bone augmentation by using computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing and rapid prototyped by laser sintering, and the definitive prosthetic rehabilitation was carried out according to the initial treatment plan. This resulted in minimal bone augmentation relative to the functional needs of the definitive prosthetic rehabilitation.