NEW FRONTIERS in IMMEDIATE LOADING

Descrizione

I have been a dentist for thirty-three years now, but my involvement with the profession goes back further than that as dentistry runs in my family. My father gained his specialisation in dentistry in 1949 at the University of Bologna. When I was a high school student, my father, in addition to his surgery, had a dental laboratory staffed by three technicians who worked for his surgery. I therefore began to earn myself some pocket money helping out in the laboratory, pouring models, polishing the edges of complete dentures, etc. I am therefore lucky enough to be able to recall procedures and techniques from before my time. And this is a great advantage. Unlike many, I do not make the mistake of thinking that things came into being when I first became aware of them. The need to study the history of our profession is greatly underestimated. After all, history is the teacher of life (historia magistra vitae). The period in which I started to practice was an exciting one for the dentistry world, the like of which had never been seen before and has not been repeated since. It was the period that saw the advent of periodontics and the creation of the Italian Society of Periodontics; it also saw the establishment of offshoots of the Amici di Brugg (an important and historical Italian dental society) and of the different academies (of conservative and of prosthetic dentistry, etc.), which soon saw Italian dentistry reaching levels of excellence. Finally, following the creation of the specialist degree in dentistry, the official register of dentists was set up. This was also the period in which implantology burst onto the scene. Unfortunately, however, for a long time, this discipline was shunned by most good quality dentists and by practically the whole of the academic world. I was fortunate to have many good teachers, and among these I wish to recall, in particular, Dr De Chiesa and Dr Pescarmona. At the time, they too, like many, were unwilling to accept implantology. However, my father, who had been an orthopaedist before the war, turning to dentistry as a result of a war injury, introduced me to a maxillofacial-implantology type surgical approach that, at the time, was shunned by most of our colleagues. It was only through Branemark that implantology finally gained acceptance and “respectability”. Nowadays, the enormous clinical and scientific contribution made by the early pioneers is, increasingly, getting the recognition it deserves. This brief autobiographical narrative, which underlines how very fortunate I was, also explains the order of the topics presented in this book. Indeed, the first chapter is a historical account, precisely because without historical knowledge one cannot have a proper perspective, and without a proper perspective one can easily make mistakes. The most frequent mistake is to commit acts of faith. And there is no place for these in the scientific sphere. The concept of ipse dixit (“he said it”) has not been acceptable since Galileo’s era. The third chapter, referring back to the historical notes (repetita iuvant), critically reviews many concepts long considered indisputable. It also explains why, today, it is reasonable to consider implant-prosthetic rehabilitation with immediate loading the best therapeutic solution in cases of edentulism and severe dental and periodontal disease. This chapter may be regarded as the heart of the entire book and, more than just a technical treatise, it aims to encourage the reader to engage in a process of critical reasoning and thinking. This is my fourth publishing adventure. A book, even a modest one like this, put together with the support and collaboration of many colleagues, represents a whole year’s work, given that I was only able to concentrate on it in my free time (evenings and weekends). But I nevertheless wished to undertake this project, seeing it, somehow, as my moral duty. Those who, like me, had the enormous fortune of playing an active role in the cultural and clinical advance of our profession, having reached their full professional maturity are duty bound to hand down their knowledge and experience to the new generations. This is why I intend, here, to make my preferences (of materials and not just methods) clearly known. They are, indeed, the fruit of more than thirty years’ practical clinical experience, supported by constant updating and research activity. I say what I say because I am convinced that I am doing something useful for my colleagues and, even more so, for the patients who come to us seeking treatment. I am absolutely convinced that the techniques, materials and methods I discuss herein are among the best currently available on the market; indeed, on the basis of my own experience I would say that they are the best. I am, and have always been, a free spirit: I am unwilling to go with the crowd and am not guided by the desire for profit. Those who trust my judgement will give credence to what I say. It is my hope that those who, a priori, do not will nevertheless want to learn more and to verify what I say, thereby giving me the credit (which I know I deserve) for being an honest professional and a passionate, albeit amateur, researcher. I am certain that those wishing to learn more about these methods will be won over, and for that I will be deeply grateful. Because it means I will have accomplished my objective. Vincenzo Bucci Sabattini