Clinical application of surgical fixation screws in implant prosthodontics - Part II: Indexing implant position

The accurate transfer of intraoral implant position to the definitive cast in situations of immediate implant loading in completely edentulous patients is an important step and may be difficult to achieve with common transfer and impression methods. Intraoral fixed points of reference accurately transferred to the definitive cast are necessary to provide precise and stable placement of radiographic and surgical templates during the presurgical diagnostic phase, during implant placement, and during fabrication of an immediate provisional restoration. This article describes a technique using surgical microfixation screws to provide fixed reference points and transfer the position of the conventional implants to the definitive cast.