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CD0412

I special _ cost management _Introduction Today, about 65% of Italian dentists are prac- tising implantology. In Italy alone, over a million implants are placed every year. A survey commis- sioned by the Italian Society of Osseointegrated Implantology on implant perception among the Italian population found that 68% of the respon- dents would request an implant should the need for an artificial tooth arise. One Italian out of three has undergone oral implant surgery. It follows that osseointegratedimplantswillbeofferedbyagrow- ing number of professionals and be placed in an ever-larger population in the future.1 It should also be noted that the economic crisis has severely affected even the dental field, and the repercussions of this phenomenon have been re- ported by newspapers, professional associations and the Ministry of Health in Italy. The Osservasa- lute report, an overview of health in Italy (compiled bytheNationalObservatoryonHealthStatusinthe Italian Regions, based at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore’s campus in Rome), reported in 2010 that Italians are being forced to save and that both the food and dental industries will suffer as a result.2 Past president of the Italian National Associa- tionofDentists(ANDI)DrRobertoCallionianalysed the consequences of the economic crisis and fu- ture prospects at a conference held under the aus- pices of the Ministry of Health on 29 March 2011. He stated that, according to a survey by ANDI in 2010, 30% of Italian dentists have less work be- cause of the crisis.3 However, he also observed an increase in offer- ings owing to the extension of retirement age and the number of graduates, and a decline in demand related to the decrease in purchasing power, a decline in birth rate and a decrease in the DMFT index.3 In addition, dentists have to compete against low-cost dental offers and dental tourism to some locations in Eastern Europe (as was the case in the 1990s with regard to the Netherlands). The increase in offerings and the reduction in demand have resulted in the average practitioner having Cost effectiveness in implant dentistry Author_Prof. Mauro Labanca, Italy 18 I cosmeticdentistry 4_2012