DENTSPLY Friadent News

Interdisciplinary insights from theory to practice

04-01-2010 | An implant dentistry congress of superlatives: The 14th Friadent World Symposium 2010 in Barcelona.

It was a congress of superlatives. 2500 participantsfrom more than 60 countries met in Barcelona on March 19-20, 2010. More than 100 internationally known lecturers presented the latest scientific insights to an attentive audience and described how they could be successfully integrated into practice. Professor Lim Kwong Cheung of Hong Kong, Dr. Henry Salama from the USA and Professor Heiner Weber from Germany were the scientific chairmen of the congress.

"We offer not only implants but also dental solutions from root to crown." With these words Dr. Werner Groll, managing director of DENTSPLY Friadent, defined the slogan of the congress: "Focus on your Practice Success.“ The company’s partnership with users is based on three pillars. The products and processes of the DENTSPLY Friadent company for implantology and bone remodeling are proven in clinical applications throughout the world. Future-oriented and innovative technology is aligned to the requirements of the practitioner and the desires of the patient. Finally, easy-to-implement marketing concepts are available for systematic development of the dental practice under the stepps brand. DENTSPLY Friadent has based its growth on these three pillars to become number three in the world implant market, as described by Dr. Groll at the press conference.

According to Dr. Groll, practical procedures and materials will continue to be firmly based exclusively on scientific innovations. The company is able to rely in the vast experience and the innovative spirit of DENTSPLY, our parent company and the largest dental supply company in the world. One DENTSPLY: a unique, interdisciplinary pool of synergy for integrated concepts for comprehensive rehabilitation of the stomatognathic system.

The wide and varied range of topics covering all aspects of modern implant-supported therapy was clearly structured, allowing attendees to concentrate intensively on topics of interest to them and leave the congress thoroughly informed. While the lectures in the "Proven Applications and New Approaches“ forum were primarily practice oriented, the "Today´s Progress for Tomorrow´s Practice“ forum focused on procedural techniques, study results relevant to dental practice and new materials and technology. The focus on interdisciplinary therapy techniques with interfaces to periodontics, endodontics and dental technology played a central role: the congress delivered on the promise of "solutions from root to crown."

Timing, esthetics, treatment protocols and risk management

Keynote lectures concentrated on these four success factors (timing, esthetics, treatment protocols and risk management), which are critical for implantology, using practical examples and also with detailed descriptions of the essential scientific background. Professor Dennis Tarnow (USA) concentrated on the essential requirements for long-term success rate in his introductory lecture. For immediate implant placement it is important to retain a sufficient degree of soft tissue and the buccal bone wall. Dr. Peter Gehrke (Ludwigshafen) advocated generally valid and objective esthetic parameters. For more than 80 percent of patients esthetics is a significant success factor. Dr. Marco Degidi and Professor Adriano Piattelli (Italy) presented their "chamber“ concept. Under specific circumstances, as was impressively demonstrated in the chamber video, a "three-dimensional biological structure“ is formed between the implant shoulder and the abutment.

Dr. Sanjay Sethi (United Kingdom) warned of the dangers of concentrating on the biological effects of treatment planning to the detriment of the financial consequences. Professor Wilfried Wagner (University of Mainz) listed a series of anatomical, biological, esthetic, surgical, prosthetic and mechanical risk factors and compared suitable preventive actions.

In the Expert Talk session, which attracted a very interested audience into the afternoon, Dr. Dietmar Weng, Dipl.-Ing. Holger Zipprich, Dr. Marco Degidi, Professor Tord M. Lundgren, Professor Karl-Andreas Schlegel and Professor Dennis Tarnow discussed the TissueCare Concept and the significance of primary stability. The various discussions concluded that important trends – including immediate loading or esthetic long-term success rate – should be considered in more detail with reference to scientific proofs and there should be a more detailed examination of the current insights. This shows that the ANKYLOS/XiVE implant systems are based on two significant basic insights for the long-term success rate with their proven tissue retention and predictable primary stability. The short introductory presentations by Weng, Zipprich and Degidi triggered an interesting discussion of the measurability and the definition of two relevant core aspects for the clinical long-term success rate.

Biomaterials and implant design – what is in the future?

What can we expect for extended treatment options from a scientific point of view? Professor Karl Andreas Schlegel (University of Erlangen) considered that biologically controlled bone remodeling will become more significant with an increasingly older patient population. Dr. Christopher McCulloch (Canada) used the example of diabetes mellitus to show what will be possible in the future for cases where implants are currently not possible with optimized surfaces. Dr. Tord M. Lundgren (USA) showed how vertical bone loss can be avoided with Ankylos implants in favorable cases. And Dr. Paul Weigl (University of Frankfurt) confirmed that augmentation in the posterior tooth region can be avoided with 8 mm short Ankylos implants.

Team approach, collegial meetings, hands-on workshops and outstanding posters
 
The final sessions presented by Dr. Henry Salama and Dr. Bernhard Saneke described the team approach as a success factor. Interdisciplinary networks and an open working atmosphere are the foundation stones of the dental practice of the future.
 
In the intervals between sessions attendees were able to find out more about DENTSPLY Friadent product innovations at the well-organized and always very busy marketplace, participate in practical sessions presented by lecturers and try out techniques for themselves. For example, Carsten Fischer, master dental technician, (Frankfurt) demonstrated new, CAD/CAM-fabricated abutments designed for individual emergence profiles and Dr. Bernhard Giesenhagen (Melsungen) showed his bone ring augmentation technique. A number of visitors were also interested in forthcoming possibility of fabricating excellent economical temporary dentures with the XiVE system-immanent TempBase concept.

The hands-on workshops, offered for the first time and fully booked out, enabled attendees to extend their knowledge of augmentation techniques using anatomical preparations (Dr. Thomas Hanser), perfect their knowledge of soft-tissue management (Dr. Wolfram Hahn and Dr. Stephan Klotz) and try out guided surgery on a model (Dr. Fred Bergmann).

The Poster Gallery exhibited more than 160 posters. Three poster awards were presented. Dr. E. Dwayne Karateew (Canada) received the award in the category Case Report . The professional jury honored Dr. Marco Esposito, Dr. Gabriela Grusovin and Professor K.-A. Schlegel in the category EJOI and DENTSPLY Friadent Scientific Poster Award Clinical Studies,  while the final prizewinner was Dr. Christoph Klaus Müller (University of Frankfurt). The DENTSPLY Friadent Student Poster Award went to Bernd Raab (University of Erlangen).

Relaxation was on the program for Friday evening. Attendees celebrated with an exciting range of culinary specialties and rhythms on the grounds of the 1929 World Fair at the Magic Fountain at the foot of Montjuic.

The positive response of attendees to the wide range of topics, the general level of lecturers and also to the organization of the congress was simply overwhelming. Visitors to the congress were also impressed by the neutrality and independence of the information – a welcome change from most congresses in the dental field, which tend to be dominated by companies interested mostly in more sales. The DENTSPLY Friadent World Symposium has now become one of the most important implantology congresses in the world and still retains a family atmosphere in spite of its size. Many attendees have already indicated that they will be attending the next World Symposium on March 16-17, 2012, in Hamburg.