Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

For more information, contact BioHorizons Customer Care: +44 (0)1344 752560 or visit us online at www.biohorizons.com Laser-Lok 3.0 is the first 3mm implant that incorporates Laser-Lok technology to create a biologic seal and maintain crestal bone on the implant collar1 . Designed specifically for limited spaces in the aesthetic zone, the Laser-Lok 3.0 comes with a broad array of prosthetic options making it the perfect choice for high profile cases. SPMP10109 REV D SEP 2010 1. Radiographic Analysis of Crestal Bone Levels on Laser-Lok Collar Dental Implants. CA Shapoff, B Lahey, PA Wasserlauf, DM Kim, IJPRD, Vol 30, No 2, 2010. 2. Implant strength & fatigue testing done in accordance with ISO standard 14801. 3. Initial clinical efficacy of 3-mm implants immediately placed into function in conditions of limited spacing. Reddy MS, O’Neal SJ, Haigh S, Aponte-Wesson R, Geurs NC. Int J Oral Maxillofac Implants. 2008 Mar-Apr;23(2):281-288. 4. Human Histologic Evidence of a Connective Tissue Attachment to a Dental Implant. M Nevins, ML Nevins, M Camelo, JL Boyesen, DM Kim. International Journal of Periodontics & Restorative Dentistry. Vol. 28, No. 2, 2008. • Two-piece 3mm design offers restorative flexibility in narrow spaces • Implant design is more than 20% stronger than competitor implant2 • 3mm threadform shown to be effective when immediately loaded3 • Laser-Lok microchannels create a physical connective tissue attachment (unlike Sharpey fibers) 4 Treat small spaces with confidence Introducing the Laser-Lok® 3.0 implant Human histology shows the apical extent of the junctional epithelium below which there is a supracrestal connective tissue attachment to the laser microchannel surface2 . Radiograph shows proper implant spacing in limited site. Laser-Lok 3.0 placed in aesthetic zone. Image courtesy of Michael Reddy, DDS Image courtesy of Cary Shapoff, DDS Treat small spaces with confidence spaces with confidence spaces with Introducing the Laser-LokIntroducing the Laser-Lok® 3.0 implant3.0 implant Bio Horizons_treat small.indd 1 01/03/2011 16:33 I t all started with an inquiry from a well-known profes- sional journal of implantol- ogy asking for a contribution to acknowledge their having been in business for 15 years. Then there was the incidental telephone call by an academic teacher who had accompanied and supported me in my first steps in implantology. When I asked him about the upcoming publication project, I received a spontaneous and surprising reply, “The last 15 years - those were the most important years in implantology”! This from a renowned uni- versity professor who was in- strumental in establishing im- plantology - I was impressed. Later on I had to ask myself, “Is this really true?” The result of my tracing this development is this article - a personal ret- rospective. Phases of implantology If one considers oral implan- tology with regard to its major developments, three phases are evident: (i) the empirical and experimental phase; (ii) the arrival of implantology in universities and science; (iii) the mass phenomenon of im- plantology. I would like to add that this is a rough and proba- bly superficial division to some extent. Please, however, allow me to apply it within the scope of this personal - and not ex- haustive - review. Looking back at these past 15 years, I will barely touch on phase II, but will discuss phase III fully. This entails different directions and priority areas that colleagues working in im- plantology experienced. When I browsed through implantol- ogy textbooks and journals from this period, I realised even more that implantology had undergone considerable change in this relatively short period of 15 years. I would like to recount my highlights of im- plantology from this period in the following paragraphs. Farewell to the tristesse of papers A seemingly minor issue to start with: the variety and quality of dentistry-specific print media and of digital media, particu- larly print layout, has devel- oped substantially during the past 15 years. This holds true not only for implantology, but also for dentistry as a whole. The appearance of some pro- fessional journals up until the mid-1990s was reminiscent of an official legal amendment, but amazing things have hap- pened since. The quality of colour printing (which is the norm now, but used to be sub- ject to a surcharge for authors who wanted to include colour images), the accuracy of imag- es, the paper - all of these make for a high quality appearance and leave a lasting impression on the reader. This has clearly been an advantage also for im- plantology because now high- ly complex correlations can be more easily conveyed and “sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words”. Ideally, e- learning and electronic profes- The most important years in implantology Dr Georg Bach gives a personal retrospect on the development of implants page 16DTà ‘This from a re- nowned university professor who was instrumental in establishing im- plantology - I was impressed’ 15Implant TribuneNovember 19-25, 2012United Kingdom EditionUnited Kingdom Edition