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overview I I 07implants1_2012 quality appearance and leave a lasting impression on thereader.Thishasclearlybeenanadvantagealsofor implantology because now highly complex correla- tions can be more easily conveyed and “sometimes a pictureisworthathousandwords”.Ideally,e-learning and electronic professional journals supplement the current training needs of the younger generation of dentistsespecially. _The end of dogmas While implantology was marked by many dogmas from its beginning and the mid-1990s, this had changedatthetimewhenour15-yearobservationpe- riod begins. However, implantology was later called into question in its entirety. Whether it was healing times,waitingtimesafteraugmentationorprosthetic concepts—everythingunderwentscrutiny.Ontheone hand,someofthesedogmasdidinfactprovetobeno longer sustainable because of remarkable develop- ments, especially improvements in implant surfaces. On the other hand, the mark was at times overshot in the elimination of other dogmas, creating the need to back-track. This was a painful experience for both pa- tientsandimplantologists. Onedogmathatweencounteredintheobservation periodwasthatofastrictrefusalofimmediateimplant placement.Thereisgeneralconsensustoday,however, that under suitable conditions an immediate implant placementcanbeahighqualityandsustainablealter- native to established procedures. One clinical case shows an immediate implant placement in the maxil- lary anterior teeth: the extraction and the immediate implant placement of a maxillary anterior tooth that was not worth preserving under the guidance of a drillingtemplateandimplantposition(Fig.1),transfer intotheoralcavity(Fig.2),andtheconditionimmedi- atelyafterinsertionoftheimplantcrown(Fig.3). _The prospering of the implant market A welcome variety of new implants, implant forms andprostheticoptionshasbecomearealityinthepast 15 years. Special implants were developed for special indications so that now even a mandibular molar can bereplacedbyacorrespondingsizedimplant,followed by insertion of a corresponding sized implant crown. Figures4to7showtheclinicalanddentalappearance of these in a patient. Implantologists who placed sev- eral hundred implants annually were considered the bigplayersontheimplantmarketinthe1990s.Achiev- ing the mark of 100,000 implants placed per year in Germany signified that the peak had been reached. This was not the case, since the one-million mark was alsoreachedwithinthescopeofarapid,almostunim- peded development. While the increase has been slower in recent years and global economic develop- ments even caused a brief decline, today we can as- sume that the implant market will continue to grow. The maximum growth phase falls into our observed period. _Development in the eyes of implant manufacturers From manufacturer to global player—this would be an accurate description of the development of Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 7 Fig. 8 Fig. 9