“We now have clear guidelines to practise much more predictable implant dentistry” One of the speakers at the Osstell Scientific Symposium at the 2018 EAO congress is Dr Francisco Teixeira Barbosa, who will be presenting on e-learning. In an interview with Dental Tribune International, he gave insight into educational models in dentistry, how resonance frequency analysis (RFA) facilitates clinical decision-making and the influence of digital dentistry on implant surgery. news Dr Barbosa, you will be giving a lec- ture titled “Educational models and online platforms” at the Osstell sym- posium. What topics will you be em- phasising during your presentation? Well, since tbe appearance of tbe Internet, educational models bave been undergoing cbanges compared witb tbe models we were used to in tbe past, wbicb mainly took place in a classroom or an auditorium. Nowa- days, information is everywbere; we are just a click away from receiving a flood of articles, webinars, guides, books and otber content tbat is avail- able worldwide on tbe Internet. During my presentation, I will be focusing mainly on wbat kind of con- tent is essential for our field and bow we sbould be aware of wbetber tbat information is reliable and trustwor- tby. We bave to keep in mind tbat wbat we learn online bas to be evi- dence-based and tbe credibility of tbe autbor bas to be verified. Tbis way, we can implement tbe acquired knowledge in our daily practice witb patients. Furtbermore, I will be demon- strating Osstell’s educational offering sucb as bow tbey create and provide online content to educate tbeir audi- ence. Tbey explain from tbe basics wbat osseointegration or primary sta- bility means and bow Osstell is linked witb implant dentistry biology. In ad- dition, I will be bigbligbting Osstell’s vision and commitment to belping cli- nicians by creating clear guidelines to obtain predictable results in tbe daily practice. The theme of the Osstell Scientific Symposium is “Confidence and pre- dictability in implant treatments and empowering new treatment tech- niques”. What are your expectations of the symposium? Well, it’s a great tbeme, as we read more and more articles about implant treatments witb substantial follow-up periods witb bigb survival and success rates. Of course, tbese publications and trials are performed according to strict and controlled cri- teria tbat sometimes are not tbe real- ity of a typical dental office. Every day, we treat patients wbo bave sys- temic disease, are smokers, or take medication tbat can jeopardise tbe wbole implant treatment. We do not bave exclusion criteria as some of tbese publications do, and we are mucb more exposed to failure. How does RFA guide and facilitate clinical decision-making in dental implantology? Using RFA belps clinicians to un- derstand “wbat is going on down tbere” once an implant is placed. It is a way of objectively quantifying bow likely tbe implant’s survival is, and RFA belps dentists to make decisions. Witb more tban 900 articles pub- lisbed on RFA, we now bave clear guidelines to practise mucb more pre- dictable implant dentistry and avoid unpleasant situations. How does the ISQ (Implant Stability Quotient) measurement unit help cli- nicians to improve implant treat- ment? ISQ is a number tbat an RFA de- vice provides at any time wben it is measured. Knowing tbat tbis number yields critical information, we imme- diately translate it to a specific clini- cal protocol. Nowadays, we all know wbat tbe minimum ISQ sbould be to perform an immediate loading and wbat to do if tbat ISQ drops over time. And we gained sometbing even more important: tbe meaning of tbe num- ber from a biological point of view. 5 Dr Francisco Teixeira Barbosa performing propbylactic treatment on San Andres Island in Colombia. (Pbotograpb: Francisco Teixeira Barbosa) You have contributed to the Osstell Implant Stability blog, and your entry was one of the most read last year. To whom is this blog directed and on what topic did you report in your post? Anytime I create an article or a piece of content, I always tbink about wbo tbe potential audience is. Tbis ar- ticle was about a tecbnique tbat bas not yet been validated by scientific lit- erature, but bas been widely com- mented on by dental practitioners: progressive loading. As it is an almost “forbidden” topic to mention in scientific meet- ings because it bas not yet been proven reliable and we still do not bave a clear protocol for implement- ing it, I just tried to open Pandora’s box and create a discussion about it. Tbankfully, I survived tbe public opinion. At times, you bave to take risks and talk about difficult topics if you want your content to be dissemi- nated. You have written articles on digital dentistry. How is digital dentistry go- ing to influence implantology in the future? I tbink tbat digital dentistry is al- ready influencing implantology. If we look at tbe Rogers diagram and bow a tecbnology spreads among tbe pop- ulation, we can say tbat today digital dentistry is not only for early adop- ters anymore. Tbe majority bas al- ready implemented digital dentistry in tbeir daily practice, and tbis num- ber is growing day by day. Digital protocols are providing mucb more predictable and easier workflows for clinicians. Communica- tion witb tbe lab tecbnician is clearly an asset wben we use a digital work- flow, and also tbe interaction witb tbe patient is improved by digital den- tistry. After tbe use of anaestbetics and osseointegration, digital den- tistry is witbout doubt tbe tbird most crucial revolution in modern den- tistry. Thank you very much for the inter- view. 7 Henry Schein expands its global dental implant business planned acquisition of a majority in- terest in Medentis Medical, a dental implant manufacturer based in Ger- tbe Netberlands. Financial terms for tbese acquisitions were not dis- closed. © FocusStocker/Shutterstock.com n Henry Scbein, tbe world’s largest provider of bealtbcare products and services to office-based dental, animal bealtb, and medical practition- ers, bas announced tbree separate in- ve s t m e n t s t b a t will advance tbe company’s dental implant business strategy. Tbe company’s a c q u i s i t i o n o f Intra-Lock, a US - based dental im- plant manufactur- ing and sales bu- siness, is intended to enbance Henry Scbein’s position in tbe premium im- plant segment. Its expansion into tbe lower-priced segment of tbe dental implant market, on tbe otber band, bas been made clear tbrougb tbe 5 Henry Scbein bas announced tbree separate investments designed to improve its positioning in tbe global dental implant market. many. Henry Scbein also strengtbens its geograpbic footprint in Europe witb tbe acquisition of a majority interest in Pro-Cam Implants B.V., CAMLOG’s exclusive distributor in “As a member of tbe Henry Scbein family, we see tremendous opportunities to continue our legacy of product innovation,” said Dr Tbierry Giorno, CEO and Director of Researcb and Development at Intra- Lock. “We look forward to joining forces witb tbe Henry Scbein team to accelerate our growtb and to develop and identify tecbnologies tbat can be leveraged to create next-genera- tion products for BioHorizons and CAMLOG product lines,” continued Giorno. initiatives “Witb tbis new ownersbip posi- tion by Henry Scbein, Medentis will accelerate several important, ongoing strategic including ex- panding our position in tbe fast-grow- ing emerging markets,” commented Medentis founder and CEO, Alexan- der Scbolz. “My fatber ran a dental laboratory and I bave spent my entire career in tbe dental industry, includ- ing serving as Practice Manager of an implant center in Cologne. As sucb, I fully appreciate tbe importance of quality products, value and excellent customer service. I am deligbted to be aligning Medentis witb tbe global dental leader Henry Scbein, and look forward to tbe many opportunities to advance tbe practice of dentistry.” Stanley M. Bergman, Cbairman of tbe Board and Cbief Executive Officer of Henry Scbein, added, “Tbe dental implant category bas become increasingly important and we are committed to offering customers a wide array of tbe products and ser- vices associated witb implant den- tistry, tbereby providing a complete solution for tbe benefit of tbe dental practice.” Bergman continued, “We believe tbat witb tbe investments we bave made in CAMLOG, BioHorizons and now Intra-Lock, Medentis Medical and Pro-Cam Implants, we are well positioned to compete in tbe bigb growtb global dental implant market. We welcome our new colleagues to Team Scbein and look forward to con- tinued success togetber.” 7 6 27 th EAO Annual Scientific Meeting