Radiographic and surgical guide fabrication for implant-retained mandibular overdenture.

A simple technique is presented to make a multipurpose duplicate of the patient's complete denture to plan and fabricate a mandibular implant-retained overdenture. This duplicate serves 3 different functions. It can be used as a radiographic guide, surgical template, and custom tray adapted to the patient's occlusion. Advantages of the technique described are twofold: it is cost effective and makes use of equipment and materials commonly found in dental practices. The use of a single guide allows the clinician to refer to the recorded prosthetic data at each step of implant treatment.