Blue Sky Plan: free implant planning, pay per export

Blue Sky Plan is implant planning and surgical guide software from Blue Sky Bio. Downloading it and planning cases costs nothing, and a fee applies only when a design is exported for manufacturing. For clinics starting with guided surgery, and for labs that design guides now and then, this removes the fixed license cost. This post covers how the pricing model works, the planning sequence, and the points I check before a guide goes to print.

What Blue Sky Plan does

Blue Sky Plan combines CBCT data with intraoral or model scans to plan implant positions and design surgical guides. According to Blue Sky Bio it works with any implant system, and it also includes tools for other designs such as models and dentures. Both in-clinic and in-lab guide design techniques are available.

How the pay-per-export model works

Installing the software, importing cases and planning are free. When a surgical guide or another design is exported to STL for printing, a per-case fee applies. At the time of writing, new users receive a small number of free guide exports. The terms have changed over the years, so check the current offer on the Blue Sky Bio website before you plan your costs around it.

For a clinic that places implants a few times a month, this means no license cost in quiet months and the chance to try the software on real patients before paying anything.

Guided surgery workflow in Blue Sky Plan

1. Take a CBCT of the patient and export it as DICOM.
2. Scan the arch intraorally, or scan a model.
3. Match the surface scan to the CBCT using teeth or markers.
4. Set up the planned teeth, because the implant position follows the prosthesis.
5. Place the implants in bone, respecting anatomical structures and using the correct implant library.
6. Design the guide for the surgical kit in use: sleeves or sleeveless, supported by teeth, mucosa or bone, with fixation pins when needed.
7. Export the guide and print it with a resin and printer workflow validated for surgical guides.

What to check before exporting a guide

Confirm that the exact implant, sleeve and drill kit are in the library before planning starts. Replacing a component at the end usually means redesigning the guide.

Then look closely at the matching. A poor match between CBCT and surface scan produces a guide that looks precise on screen and sits wrong in the mouth, so I verify the overlay in several regions of the arch.

The printed guide is only as accurate as the printer, resin, post-processing and disinfection or sterilization protocol validated for it. The surgical plan itself remains a clinical decision, and the designer builds what the clinician approved.

Blue Sky Plan or exoplan

For occasional guided surgery, paying per export usually costs less than any planning license. A clinic or lab planning many cases every week should add up the per-case fees and compare them with an integrated suite such as exoplan, especially when the rest of the work already runs in exocad.

The exoplan Guide Creator article describes that alternative, and installing implant libraries in exocad explains how DentalCAD components are shared with exoplan.

Frequently asked questions

Is Blue Sky Plan really free?

Downloading the software and planning are free. Exporting a surgical guide or other design to STL for manufacturing is paid per case. New users have received some free exports, but check the current terms on the Blue Sky Bio website.

Does Blue Sky Plan work with any implant system?

Blue Sky Bio states that the software works with any implant system. Check that the implant, sleeve and drill kit you use are available in its libraries before planning.

Can a dental lab design guides in Blue Sky Plan for clinics?

Yes. The software includes both in-clinic and in-lab guide design techniques. The clinician remains responsible for the surgical plan.