Long-term stability of peri-implant tissues is crucial for the success and longevity of dental implants. Achieving this stability requires not only alveolar bone of appropriate shape and quantity but also adequate soft tissue dimensions, specifically the width and thickness of keratinized mucosa. Effective soft tissue management plays a significant role in implant dentistry, influencing both the quantity and quality of the peri-implant tissues.

The aim is to build up peri-implant soft tissue to ensure long-term stability and success. This session will discuss the importance of soft tissue management, emphasizing its critical role in implant dentistry. It will cover a variety of clinical scenarios, from enhancing keratinized tissue to soft tissue augmentation for esthetics.

Implant therapy has enhanced treatment options for patients and improved our ability to provide optimal care. Initial studies implied that implants were impervious to peri-implant diseases. However, current data suggests that this may be more common than originally thought. Avoiding complications and identifying risks associated with peri-implant disease is critical in maintaining long term implant health. This course will address some of those factors which may contribute to peri-implant diseases and review how to avoid or manage those situations.

Speaker Topics:

Dr. Chandur Wadhwani: Peri-implant Disease Risk Reduction: From Implant Manufacture through to Implant Maintenance (and everything in between)

Dr. Joichiro Hayashi: Optimal Dimension of Peri-implant Mucosa in the Molar Region

Dr. German O. Gallucci: Implant-Restorative Considerations to Prevent Peri-implant Diseases

Dr. Georgios A. Kotsakis: Titanium Particle Release as a Risk Factor

Fractured abutment screws can quickly become a clinical disrupter that is costly for both the patient and the practice. Dr. Mastrovich will focus on the basics involved with fractured abutment screw retrieval and will share the algorithm that he has developed over the past 25 years to successfully recover the fractured fragments. He will also share which techniques to avoid in order to prevent implant damage and potential implant loss.

Dr. Froum will discuss a treatment matrix that aids in the decision-making of when to save or when to remove an implant. He will review various techniques for implant removal, which techniques are most recommended for atraumatic removal, and the critical skills and armamentarium necessary for successful implant removal outcomes.

This course will cover the historical context, rationale and relevance in contemporary clinical practice of two widely used systems of periodontal prognosis. Attendees will understand the evolution of both systems, recognize the reliability and validity of each system and appreciate the role of patient specific factors in assigning prognosis.

This session explores the challenges and evolving concepts in implant therapy at molar sites, with a special focus on immediate implant placement and treatment options in the atrophic posterior maxilla. Is immediate molar implant placement realistically feasible 90–95% of the time? Can clinicians truly achieve >99% 10-year success rate whether the implants are placed immediately, in pre-existing bone, or in regenerated bone? We will critically examine these questions, weighing folk tales against reality and evidence-based outcomes.
Participants will dive into conceptual—not just technical—drivers of implant success, including the decision-making behind short implants vs. sinus augmentation, long-term prognosis of each approach, and the biologic and prosthetic complications associated with varied implant-to-crown ratios. This course emphasizes that surgical excellence alone is insufficient; long-term success demands a shift in conceptual thinking.

Peri-implantitis has become a significant focus in our practices which was never even contemplated when implants had been first introduced. In fact, systematic reviews and meta-anaylses have demonstrated that after 10 years in function, over half the implants that have been placed are affected with a biologic disease, i.e. peri-implant mucositis or peri-implantitis. The reasons for this are multi factorial and our approach needs to first identify and minimize risks through preventive strategies but to also embrace emerging methods of treatment once biologic disease has been diagnosed. What can we do early on once implants are placed to prevent the emergence and progression of peri implant diseases?

This presentation will focus on some of the critical risk indicators and factors to which we must pay attention. Studies continue to point out emerging issues never thought about in the past that predispose our patients to diseases. Where are beginning to better understand how inflammatory issues such as diabetes, periodontitis, and obesity play into this scenario. Other concerns center on how much keratinized masticatory mucosa that may be needed for stability? What is the best surface texture at the top of our implants? Does cementing restorations increase peri-implant problems? Does crown contour have an effect on peri-implant problems? Does the use of bone level versus tissue level versus platform switched implants make a difference?

These are some of the topics that will be addressed along with how effective our treatment is of these problems.

Dental implants became one of the major preferred treatment options to replace missing teeth for 100 million people, yet over one million implants fail to integrate and lose supporting bone due to peri-implantitis. Multiple etiologic factors have been identified to contribute to this devastating disease, and today’s presentations will allow us to understand the prevalence of peri-implantitis as well as lead to a deep understanding of potential treatment options that have been proven to be successful in the prevention of the disease progression.

Bacteria have co-evolved with humans, adapting not only to genotypic idiosyncrasies, but also to behavioral and lifestyle changes. Together, the human and the microbiome we host form a ‘holobiont’, with these organisms playing a vital role in maintaining our physiology and health. Moreover, these dynamic communities form ecosystems within various niches in the human body, and by virtue of this lifestyle, are extremely responsive to shifts in the local environment. Thus, the microbiome acts as a ‘canary in the coal mine’. As clinicians and biologists, the session will focus on harnessing the capabilities of the microbiome to promote health and to act as prognosticators of impending disease states as well as biomarkers of disease activity.

The predictability and long-term success rate of dental implants are well documented in the literature. Nevertheless, complications and failures do occur and can have a significant impact on overall treatment. Peri-implantitis is one of the most common biological complications affecting functional implants. Even though the exact causes of peri-implant diseases is the bacterial biofilm, numerous factors may increase the risk of developing peri-implantitis. Risks may be reduced and even eliminated if some related factors are controlled. This lecture will discuss risk indicators to identify susceptible patients so that a customized treatment plan can be provided for each patient, depending on the relevant needs. Also, it will evaluate common problems encountered with the restorative phase providing an understanding of how and why problems exist and ways to reduce them.