Design and Development of 3D Printed Dental Drill Guide for Better Flow of Irrigant at Drilling Site

The aim of this study was to design and fabricate a dental drill guide with built-in external irrigation mechanism for improved flow of irrigant at the drilling site to restrict the bone temperature below the threshold of thermal necrosis i.e. 47 °C during implant site preparation. This guide was compared with the conventional type 3D printed drill guide (commercially available in the market) in terms of heat generated while drilling.

Temperature was measured with K type thermocouple and data acquisition system using PPMA as a work piece instead of bone. Constant drilling load of 1.7 Kg was applied using a dedicated experimental setup. Drill speed was kept constant at 1200 rpm throughout the experimentation. Temperature was measured at the depths of 3, 7 and 11 mm with the help of thermocouples placed perpendicular to the drill axis. Incremental drilling as prescribed the drill manufacturer was performed. More than 10% improvement in maximum temperature was recorded at all the drilling locations when new drill guide was used. (paper)