implants - internationalmagazine of oral implantology

I meetings _ EAO 20th Annual Congress of the EAO Author_Daniel Zimmermann Photos_Annemarie Fischer, Germany 44 I implants4_2011 _The 20th annual congress of the European As- sociation for Osseointegration (EAO) took place under less-than-ideal conditions. Huge piles of garbagebagslitteredthenarrowalleysoftheGreek capital, and metro buses and trains were not run- ningformostofthetimeowingtotheongoingpub- lic service strikes. Furthermore, air-traffic con- trollers in several European countries threatened to stopworkingduringtheweekinwhichthecongress was to take place. Despite these unfavourable cir- cumstances, more than 3,000 dental clinicians and researchers in the field of implantology attended the dental implant event of the year, which took place at the Megaron Athens International Confer- ence Centre not far from the Presidential Mansion in Athens. Since 1991, the Brussels-based EAO has organ- ised congresses in different European cities annu- ally,forexample,intheScottishmetropolisGlasgow last year and the principality of Monaco in 2009. Despite the prevailing mood of the financial crisis, this year’s congress, organised in partnership with three Greek dental organisations, went relatively smoothly, the organiser said. Speaking to Dental Tribune in Athens, most visitors and exhibitors also expressed satisfaction with the scientific and com- mercial offering. Their only criticism was the distri- bution of booths over three levels inside the venue that seemed to favour only those companies ex- hibiting on the ground level. Improvements in this regardwereannounced,however,bytheorganisers for next year’s event. In advance of the congress, German professor Friedrich Wilhelm Neukam from the University of Erlangen, who chaired the Organising Committee this year with Prof. Asterios Doukoudakis from the University of Athens, had said that implant treat- ment planning would be a major topic, particularly with regard to new imaging techniques and com- puter-assisted implantation. In a scientific session held on Thursday and moderated by Prof. Christoph HämmerlefromtheUniversityofZurichinSwitzer- land, the latest methods for computer-aided im- plant fabrication were discussed by renowned spe- cialistsinthefieldlikeDrTheodorusKapos(USA)and