Product Evaluation

X-Nav Technologies, LLC

X-Guide

An interactive system of patented real-time navigation technologies that simplifies and enhances implant planning and placement

After years of placing and restoring implants, Dr. Michael Sohl was on a mission to develop a completely digital protocol that would improve the predictability, immediacy, and precision of his surgical procedures. Similarly, Dr. Aaron Quitmeyer was hoping for a cost-effective, patient specific approach to restorative implant procedures that would improve the accuracy of his results.

Can one product fulfill these seemingly impossible needs? According to these dentists, the answer is a resounding “yes.” That one product is the X-Guide Dynamic 3D Navigation system from X-Nav Technologies, an interactive system of patented real-time navigation technologies that simplifies and enhances implant planning and placement. Combining a live 360-degree view of anatomy and drill position with turn-by-turn navigation, X-Guide is an excellent tool to “perform restorative-driven treatment planning,” said Dr. Quitmeyer. He uses it daily to place implants, including full-arch cases, and said it increases his confidence and decreases stress during procedures.

After adding X-Guide to his digital workflow— which includes an intraoral scanner, CBCT, 3D printing, and 5-axis milling—Dr. Sohl can now plan implants and modify navigation chairside, ensuring that “implant placement is both surgically correct and prosthetically accurate.” X-Guide has “made me a better surgeon and helps produce superior prosthetic results” while helping patients “understand that we’re doing everything possible to provide them with a successful, uneventful result,” said Dr. Sohl.

Ease of Use

X-Guide’s easy-to-use implant planning software helps identify the ideal implant location, ultimately improving results for the patient. Naming “accuracy and ease of use” as his favorite features, Dr. Gary Crawford said X-Guide makes it quick and easy to transfer and use data from CBCT scanning to help accurately place dental implants. After a learning curve, Dr. Gregory Phillips said, “Chair time is the same, or less, as with freehand,” and Dr. Michael Hartman called it “a very flexible system to adopt in routine practice with multiple workflow options.” Impressed with X-Nav’s “drive to continually improve and innovate,” Dr. Laith Mahmood said, “We’re now known as the X-Nav practice.”

Precision & Accuracy of Implant Placement

For precise clinical results, X-Guide features a live 360-degree view of drill position and anatomy with interactive turn-by-turn navigation of implant position, angle, and depth. “Full-arch procedures are quicker and less invasive,” and X-Guide is ideal for cases “in which precision is an absolute necessity,” noted Dr. Sohl. Dr. John Russo said he successfully placed a 3-mm implant into a very narrow site exactly where planned on the software, which was “something I could not have done without hitting the adjacent roots without X-Guide.” Suggesting a “portal to share case plans with referring dentists,” Dr. Brandon Payne said he has “confi dence in every placement” and added, “Avoiding anatomical structures makes surgeries smooth, predictable, and, in most cases, faster than freehand.”

“X-Guide has made me a better surgeon and helps produce superior prosthetic results!”

- Michael Sohl, DDS

Stuart, FL

Enhancing the Digital Workflow

By extending digital capabilities, virtual treatment plans can be exported to “design and fabricate provisional components prior to surgery,” said Dr. Hartman, who uses an all-digital workflow to plan and execute implant cases, resulting in predictable surgeries, less implant inventory, and minimal setup and calibration times.

Excited that he no longer needs to wait for static guide fabrication, Dr. Payne said, “I can complete my virtual surgical plan without explaining to anyone where or why I want an implant positioned.” Dr. Reza Miremadi gets “immediate satisfaction from planning and doing surgery the same day without waiting for a lab-made surgical splint,” and Dr. Julius Hyatt noted, “It makes me better, makes my outcomes better, and reduces stress.” Dr. Phillips said that X-Guide has lowered expenses, reduced treatment times, and “improved case acceptance due to the ‘wow factor’.”

Since using X-Guide, Dr. Robert Pauley, Jr. said his implant practice has grown from single-tooth immediate placements to fullarch reconstructions. He explained, “The real-time advantages of a dynamically guided navigational workflow are endless. The collaborative opportunities between CBCT, intraoral scans, X-Guide, and lab technicians are limited only by our imaginations.”

Overall Satisfaction

“X-Guide has totally changed my implant practice, and the team at X-Nav is passionate about their product and committed to adopting innovative technologies…that help users obtain exceptional case outcomes,” noted Dr. Hartman. Dr. Jeffrey Doss said it’s “the best technology available; well worth the money,” and Dr. Quitmeyer concluded, “X-Guide has become an essential component in my armamentarium as a dental implant surgeon.”

Takeaways

• Patented navigations technologies elevate implant planning for precise, detailed, and controlled implant placement
• Easy-to-use implant planning software assists in identifying the ideal implant location
• Intraoperative 360-degree view of drill position with interactive turn-by-turn navigations of implant position, angle, and depth
• Easy transfer of #d treatment plans makes affordable same-day guided surgery a reality