Computer-Assisted Implant Surgery: Implications for Teaching, Learning, and Educational Strategies

Abstract

Objective: This white paper aimed to discuss educational strategies for teaching and learning of computer-assisted implant surgery (CAIS) within the wider dental curriculum, including the pedagogy, technologies, and challenges. Material and Methods: A review of the available literature up to February 2025 was conducted, compiling existing evidence related to the application of CAIS in dental education, both through simulation and in clinical care. The findings were further integrated with expert opinions and current best practices in dental education in a panel discussion. Results: Guided CAIS demonstrated potential to enhance implant placement accuracy and increase confidence among novice surgeons. Dynamic CAIS (d-CAIS) could support broader cognitive and surgical skill development, whereas static CAIS (s-CAIS) showed limited utility as a comprehensive educational instrument. The sequence of learning between guided and non-guided techniques appears to be less critical than ensuring proficiency in both. Competence development with d-CAIS is incremental, unlike s-CAIS, where progress might be faster but involves mainly procedural skills. Key challenges remain for the implementation of CAIS in educational structures such as limited faculty expertise, high costs of digital equipment, limited interoperability of digital systems, and ethical or legal concerns regarding autonomy of technologies. Conclusion: CAIS has shown to be a valuable tool in teaching implant dentistry; its proper integration into dental education enhances the learners' experience and offers significant benefits for developing overall surgical competences. Current educational research is limited and primarily focused on the accuracy of implant placement, while practice of CAIS entails a very wide set of parameters encompassing the clinician, the workflow, the institution or clinic, and the patient. Future studies targeting educational interventions with a wider array of outcome measures would be required to help design effective educational strategies with CAIS.