The replacement of teeth using dental implants has always been done sequentially with the placement of the implant into a patient's bone followed by the creation of a prosthesis and subsequent insertion of the prosthesis. The process can take numerous visits and is done over a period of many months. This patent describes a method of using a digitally designed and created dental prosthesis as the drill guide to place the implants. Rather than the stent acting as a guide to place the implants, the drill guide itself comprises a stent encasing the final prosthesis. The final prosthesis—whose placement was digitally predetermined—is then secured with small-diameter implant screws, and the case is completed in one short visit.
