N L Y A L S O N F E S SI O O R T A L P N E D PUBLISHED IN DUBAI www.dental-tribune.me May-June 2020 | No. 3, Vol. 10 Implantology in 2020: There is now something new under the sun or rather ancient By Dr Mauro Labanca I will paraphrase Giovanni Pascoli in saying how I foresee the future of implantology this year: I feel like I can say that much of what appears new is in fact a return to the past or turns out to be a false promise. I look around, listen, and attend conferenc- es, not only as a speaker but also as a participant, in Italy and worldwide. What follows here is what I feel has emerged. Implants They were made of machined titani- um. Their surfaces have undergone a thousand evolutions, offered as thaumaturgic, and now seen as the primary cause of failure and peri- implantitis, which is obviously a new problem that had never been so dramatic in the past and has brought the most authoritative schools (in- cluding the northern European one) to say that, except for very difficult bone conditions, the first choice should continue to be machined ti- tanium implants. Immediate loading and all-on-four After great promotion of these con- cepts at every event, these options being offered as almost routine and within everyone’s reach, today they a c n a b a L o r u a M © Dr Mauro Labanca works in Milan and teaches all over the world. are certainly still considered but with more circumspection, particularly in light of the literature which demon- strates that it is not always true that the success rates equal those of tradi- tional treatments (even if too often this is the way they are sold to the patient). Furthermore, the eventual failures can lead to sometimes dra- matic consequences. Guided surgery Again, this is a proposal that turns out to be the undisputed queen at every scientific event. Participants at these meetings are then convinced that everyone should do it, and if you do not you are a fool beyond hope. This solution, thanks to its (only apparent) operational simplic- ity, is sold as a way to compensate for lack of ability or experience. In real- ity, and in light of personal experi- ence, it is still light years away from offering the declared safety and pre- cision and is undoubtedly a complex tool to be entrusted to experts who know how to make good use of it. I have also discovered, thanks to my collaborators, that the same compa- nies that push guided surgery as if it were an inescapable choice really do not want to invest too much money in educational ventures because the revenues are insignificant and mar- ket penetration too small. All this leads me to conclude, and perhaps to some extent hope, that the implantology of the new year does not bring new products whose claim of what they offer does not have scientific support and is only based on the need of a company to stay competitive or of a speaker (so many new ones and their presenta- tions often a little too improvised) to have his or her moment of glory! It should probably lead us to review the therapeutic choices on the basis of the real needs of the patient, to decide according to science and con- science, and use what is really safe and validated, leaving to research groups the task of assessing any in- novation not yet scientifically veri- fied. Dr Mauro Labanca, consultant pro- fessor of anatomy Editorial note: This is a translation of an editorial, which was first published in the Italian Edition of implants-in- ternational magazine of oral implan- tology No.1, 2020. AD CAPP DENTAL CONFEXPO MEA Scientific Meeting 1 2 N O V 2 0 2 0 D U B A I , U A E P r o ORGANISED BY PLATINUM SPONSOR VISIT THE WEBSITE D r. Marcus E n G , k al g elsch u o S D r. K wang B u m P ark, CAPP designates this activity for 7 CE Credits WHATSAPP +971 50 279 3711 / www.cappmea.com/dental-confexpo on n a b e L f. C hristia n P i e rre , y r a k a M e c n a r F Dr.Lau r e n t S ers, y n a m r e Dr.Dav i d e a e r o K h t y l a t I , o t a n F arro y n a m r e G d, n e bra D r. Detlef H i l d n o n a b e L o ury, Dr.Jeff K h