Patent ID: 8142189

Claim:
A method of planning the construction of a dental template, comprising: receiving information corresponding to a simulation of at least a portion of an implantation site, the simulation including information regarding the structure of a patient's jawbone and the location of nerve paths in the patient's jawbone; receiving information corresponding to at least one desired implant location in the patient's jawbone, the desired implant location determined at least in part using the simulation and defining an axis through the patient's jawbone; receiving information corresponding to at least one desired anchoring element location in the patient's jawbone, the desired anchoring element location determined at least in part using the simulation and so as to avoid the nerve paths in the patient's jawbone and so as to not intersect the axis; and generating, by at least one computer processor, data corresponding to a dental template design based on the simulation, based on the at least one desired implant location and based on the at least one desired anchoring element location, the desired implant location corresponding to a location in the jawbone for the planned insertion of a dental implant at the implantation site, the desired anchoring element location corresponding location in the jawbone for the planned insertion of an anchoring element that is configured to temporarily attach to the jawbone a dental template that is constructed using the dental template design.