The seventeenth annual scientific implantology seminar took place on the 19th of April 2013 at the Clarion hotel in Prague. More than two hundred dentists and dental technicians who work in implantology participated; from the Czech Republic as well as from abroad.
The participants were welcomed and the seminar was commenced by the director of the LASAK Company, Jakub Strnad, Ph.D., followed by Prof. Dr. Jiri Mazanek, DSc., as the chairman of the morning lecture sessions.
In the initial lectures, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Antonin Simunek, Ph.D. (Hradec Kralove, CZ), evaluated the development of Czech implantology during the past twenty years – from the introduction of the first implant in the Implantology Centre in Hradec Kralove in March 1993 to the present – and summarized his own knowledge from current practice. Czech implantology has gradually caught up with its initial ten-year delay. Currently, the main topic is esthetics, red and white.
Dr. Dana Kopecka, Ph.D. (Hradec Kralove, CZ) commented on a video showing the step-by-step replacement of a lower dental arch using a Brånemark bridge in an eighty-two-year-old patient. A camera recorded the complete surgical phase and the production of a provisional device within one day and the following procedure during the production of the final replacement with a BioCam® superstructure. We could see its production including the scanning of the model and actual miling of the construction.
The stability of tissues surrounding the implant was discussed by Dr. Luigi Canullo, Ph.D. (Rome, Italy). Long-term clinical and radiographic results have shown that the concept of platform switching is applicable for reduction of bone remodelation around the implant, whereas immunohistochemical analysis has shown the variable prerequisites of each patient for remodelling. Dr. Canullo also emphasized the importance of the interval of implant-abutment connection from the bone, the cleanliness of used components and the prosthetic treatment protocol to the stability of the implant surroundings.
Dr. Tomas Vosahlo (Hradec Kralove, CZ) presented the reconstruction of the upper and lower jaw in a patient with high esthetic demands. The pathway from removable denture with an interphase of fixed provisional bridges to ProImplant implants and definite implants up to a definitive prosthetic treatment was described in detail. The main goal was to create perfect esthetics, great function, biological integration and reparability of the prosthetic solution.
Dr. Curd M. L. Bollen, Ph.D. (Roosteren, NL) focused his presentation on the use of short implants, which he found effective in his practice and which demonstrate good long-term clinical results. Among the advantages presented of short-term implants is the elimination of demanding procedures of bone augmentation. 6 mm implants enable the surgeon to save time as well as financial savings for the patient (including the possible reduction of the number of surgical procedures).
Three cases of prosthetic treatment with implants were presented by Dr. Jindrich Charvat, Ph.D. (Statenice, CZ); two cases were elderly patients, one was a young patient with a facial injury after a kick from a horse. He demonstrated his eighty-year-old female patient, who is a lively singing teacher, in front of the delegates. Even despite the treatment of osteoporosis with bisphosphonates the original functionally imperfect bridge to the lower jaw was replaced with a screwed-retained prostheses on the implants. With these good results the patient is expecting also the reconstruction of the upper jaw.
Dr. Jiri Holakovsky (Prague, CZ) presented a different view of implantology with a few case reports including implantology as a means to deal with defects in the head and face area. The most common causes of these losses are traumatic injuries, oncosurgical procedures and congenital anomalies. The actual retention of epitheses is ensured by ball attachments, brackets, locators or magnetic abutments.
Dr. Tomas Siebert, Ph.D. (Trencin, SK) focused in his presentation on the basic management of stomatological treatment in patients with osteoporosis treated with bisphosphonates; their serious, although not frequent, adverse effect being osteonecrosis of the jaw.
Part of the seminar was the poster section, in which was presented individual implants Cranio-Oss, used for the treatment of advanced bone defects, mainly in cranio-maxillary-facial surgery. Throughout the day there were presentations of LASAK products in the foyer taking place; the greatest interest was focused on themilled constructions BioCam® and selected components of a new implant system BioniQ®, which will be launched this year.