Focus on Bone: Speakers

Prof. Zvi Artzi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Periodontology at the School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Zvi has published over 80 articles and research abstracts in peer-reviewed leading journals in Periodontology and Oral Implantology. He has lectured extensively at international conferences. Professor Artzi's current main research topics are related to osseointegration, bone regeneration, bone substitutes and advancing surgical modalities.

Why bovine bone mineral is a reliable and predictable biomaterial in intra-oral applications.
The use of bone substitutes is a key factor that influences bone regeneration. Ideal materials should enhance bone formation with appropriate porosity, structure, biocompatibility and sterility. The use of substitutes can reduce the need for autogenous donor bone whilst maintaining long term success of augmentation procedures. Bovine bone mineral is biocompatible and osteoconductive and has proved to be appropriate for use in socket preservation, ridge deficiency, sinus augmentations and repair of periimplant bone destruction. Both histological and controlled clinical trial data will be presented supporting the use of bovine bone substitutes.

Professor Nick Donos is the Head & Chair of Periodontology and the Director of the Division of Clinical Research at the UCL-Eastman Dental Institute in London. His research track record is mainly on GTR and GBR and clinical trials in implantology. Professor Donos has published extensively and is a member of the editorial board of leading peer-reviewed journals. Nick is the Director of the ITI Scholarship Centre at the UCL-Eastman Dental Institute and the Education Delegate of the ITI UK & Ireland section.

Synthetic bone grafts and GTR. From experimental studies to clinical application in conjunction with dental implants.
The use of different type of bone grafts in combination with GBR aim predominantly in avoiding the collapse of the flexible barrier membranes into the bone defect. Very often there is a dilemma regarding the most appropriate type of bone graft to beused. During the lecture, the experimental studies evaluating the bone regenerative healing with GBR and synthetic bone grafts as well as its clinical application will be discussed.

Dr Marco Esposito is a Senior Lecturer in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the Editor of the Cochrane Oral Health Group. Marco graduated with honors in dentistry at the University of Pavia, Italy in 1990 and was awarded a PhD in Biomaterials from the Göteborg University in 1999. He has authored more than 80 scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals. Marco's main research interests are the assessment of the effectiveness of various therapeutic interventions with particular emphasis on dental implants.

Comparison of xenografts and synthetic materials
Data from an updated Cochrane systematic review of randomized controlled clinical trials comparing the efficacy of xenografts and synthetic bone materials in various clinical applications related to implant dentistry will be presented and critically discussed.

Dr Christian Mertens is the Consultant and Assistant Medical Director, the Clinic for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Heidelberg. Dr Mertens is a 2001 graduate of the Faculty of Dental Medicine of the University of Bonn. He is a Senior Oral Surgeon, a Certified Implantologist and a serving university lecturer. One of his specialties is augmentative surgery and the surgical treatment of the atrophic maxilla.

Synthetic bone graft materials for sinus augmentation.
In posterior edentulous maxilla with high degrees of alveolar ridge resorption maxillary sinus floor-augmentation techniques are used to increase bone volume. Nowadays synthetic bone graft materials rather than autogenous bone gain more importance in daily work and show predictable results concerning conversion into bone in relativly short time. An overview of existing materials, advantages, disadvantages, limitations and clinical cases will be presented.

Dr Michael R. Norton is a Specialist in Oral Surgery and is Visiting Professor at Marquette Dental School in Milwaukee, USA. He was recently awarded a Fellowship by the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh for his contribution to the field of implant dentistry. Michael is a graduate of the University of Wales School of Dental Medicine. Michael lectures internationally and is widely published. His literature includes the Quintessence textbook: Dental Implants - A Guide for the General Practitioner (1995)

Does xenograft provide an efficacious alternative to autogenous bone for GBR?
With autogenous bone still considered the gold standard, questions remain about the efficacy of bone substitutes as an alternative therapy. In addition there are questions about the nature of defects and whether all defects respond in a similar manner. This presentation will focus specifically on the use of bovine xenograft as a material for augmentation using the principles of guided bone regeneration.

Dr Frank Schwarz is currently the Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral Surgery at the Heinrich Heine University in Duesseldorf. His doctorate focused on periodontal treatment with an ER:YAG laser and in 2002 he received the young researcher award for his work on Lasers in Dentistry, after which he worked as an Associate at the Department at the Ludwig Maximillians University in Munich.

New perspectives in bone regeneration. The ideal bone substitute should possess, at least some physicochemical properties, such as biocompatibility, osteoconductivity, resorbability, and steadiness in order to support wound healing following GBR procedures. Most recent studies have emphasised that the outcome of bone regeneration might also be influenced by either the implant surface or biocoating using osteogenic proteins of the transforming growth factor β.

Dr Pascal Valentini is an Associate Professor at the Department of Restorative Dentistry at the University of Loma Linda (USA) and is a Program Director Post Graduate of Oral Implantology at the University of Corsica. He received his DDS at the University of Paris VII in 1982. Pascal is an international speaker and author of several papers in the field of bone regeneration and maxillary sinus grafting. Dr Valentini has a private implant dentistry practice in Paris.

Sinus Grafting : Long Term Results with xenografts.
The patients included in this report have been treated using anorganic bovine bone with a 1 or 2 stage technique, according to the volume of residual bone. The overall implant survival rate was 90.1% after a mean functioning period of 10 years. Late failures, attributable to chronic bacterial infection were observed only on cylinders.