Dr. William Martin, from the University of Florida, spoke with Dr. Chiraz Guessaier about 3-D printing in implant dentistry. Highlights 3-D printing has had the biggest impact on the surgical side of implantology as surgical templates can be printed and used for implant placement. Additive manufacturing is an advantage as it is not as wasteful of materials; however, it can have added costs as the printers require frequent maintenance and printing time can vary based upon the machine being used. 3-D printing has given implant dentistry the ability to manufacture surgical templates that would not have been able to be ...

Dr. Faleh Tamimi, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill University, spoke with Dr. Chiraz Guessaier about the research he conducted and the articles he co-authored on the impact of proton pump inhibitors on implant osseointegration. Highlights Systemic administration of omeprazole interferes with bone healing and implant osseointegration: an in vivo study on rat tibiae Proton pump inhibitors, over-the-counter drugs taken by millions of patients, diminish bone accrual. Accordingly, we hypothesized that these drugs could impair bone healing and implant osseointegration. This study investigated the effect of post-operative systemic administration of omeprazole on bone healing and implant osseointegration ...

Dr. Faleh Tamimi, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill University, spoke with Dr. Chiraz Guessaier about the research he conducted and the articles he co-authored on the impact of proton pump inhibitors on implant osseointegration. Highlights Propranolol enhances bone healing and implant osseointegration in rats’ tibiae Propranolol, a non-selective b-blocker widely used to treat cardiovascular conditions, favours bone accrual. Accordingly, we hypothesized that propranolol could be useful for improving bone healing and osseointegration. This in vivo study was designed to investigate the effect of propranolol on bone healing and osseointegration in rats’ tibiae. On 24 Sprague–Dawley rats, a unicortical defect was ...

Dr. Eszter Somogyi Ganss spoke about the new implant navigation system that she helped develop and test at the University of Toronto.  Highlights The new implant system aids in the safe and accurate placement of dental implant surgery. This tool involves a paradigm shift as one does not look at the patient but at the screen during implant placement surgery. Computer navigation is essentially a “GPS” system which allows the clinician to implement a virtual treatment plan in real time while visualizing the CBCT image as well as the position of the drill on the CBCT. This gives the dentist direction, ...

Dr. Barzilay discusses guided surgery with respect to implant surgery.  Highlights Implant surgery has always been guided. We used to guide surgeons as to where we wanted implants placed and they would try their best to place them in those exact positions or as close to them as possible. Nowadays, “guided surgery” has become more exact with the use of information from CBCTs and digital software systems. As a result, currently, CAD/CAM guided surgeries involve very precise implant placement not possible just a short time ago. Key messages CBCT radiography should be considered the gold standard now in implant dentistry ...

Dr. Mehdi Noroozi comes back to speak to us about peri-implant diseases through the presentation of few cases. Highlights In this presentation, Dr. Noroozi talks about peri-implant disease which is often a result of improper diagnosis and treatment planning. It is important to educate our patients about the risk of peri-implant diseases. Currently, there are a significant number of implants that have inflammation or infection in practice. However, not all bone loss around implants is attributable to peri-implantitis. Bone loss could result from biologic width establishment, bone remodelling and early implant failure. Peri-implantitis is an inflammatory reaction around the tissues of ...

In this video conversation with Dr. John O’Keefe, Dr. Izchak Barzilay, from Prosthodontic Associates, presents important information about single implants and occlusion.  Highlights Single implants and occlusion is a “hot” topic these days. Although specialists and generalists alike are placing implant and restorations frequently, more education on maintenance of implants is required. Clinicians must be aware of the difference between natural teeth and implants. Natural teeth are connected to bone via the periodontal ligament; whereas, fixed and rigid implants are connected to bone through a direct connection, osseointegration. Because of the way the two entities are connected to bone, the ...

This summary is based on information found in Dental Implant Complications: Etiology, Prevention, and Treatment, 2 (Wiley Publishing, 2015) Key messages Patient selection is the critical factor for implant success and survival in any medically complex situation. When medical conditions are managed wisely, most patients have improved overall health with fixed replacements as opposed to removable appliances. Exceptional care must be taken so that any implants placed will be successful and safe for the clinician and the patient. It is essential to routinely review the literature and expect that protocols for patients with systemic diseases or taking medications will be regularly updated as our knowledge of dental implants advances.   Although ...