Summer 2014

Dentist Implant News

For extensive patient and dentist resource visit www.theimplantcentre.com The Implant Centre - Summer 2014 1

Training videos online

NEW

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See page 2 for more details

Short Ankylos implant is a ‘game-changer’The new Ankylos implant, at just 6.6mm long, significantly increases the number of patients we can treat without the need for extensive bone grafting – making implant treatments quicker, more comfortable and more affordable. With a diameter of either 4.5 or 3.5mm, they really are tiny, and they work brilliantly.

At The Implant Centre we have been the UK’s largest user of Ankylos implants for each of the last five years, and now we are the world’s largest users of the revolutionary Ankylos 6.6mm implants. Because of this, Ankylos

has chosen The Implant Centre as a research base for these short implants. We will be publishing cutting edge papers on this subject shortly, but we have been championing the use of short dental implants as a way of simplifying treatments since they were first developed.

Does size matter?Simple answer is no, and this is well researched and proven. The only benefit of a longer implant is in the immediate post-surgical phase, if you need stability at surgery to load the implant with a temporary crown or bridge, called primary stability for immediate loading. Once integrated with the bone the length of the implant is meaningless – ultra short implants work just as well in all clinical situations.

Patients understandably worry a lot about bone grafting, though when they have it done, they are often surprised at just how simple it can be. There is however no doubt that significant grafting makes implant treatment longer and more complex, with more complications. Bone responds well to stress. Research now shows conclusively that increased implant

Patrick Hendon, Implant Surgeon

This changes everything – just 6.6mm of implant to support any crown!

6.6mm“ “

• Just 6.6mm of implant supports any crown

• Treatments are quicker and less uncomfortable

• Short implants demonstrate no more bone loss than longer ones

• Short implants reduce the need for extensive bone grafting

• The Implant Centre is now an Ankylos research centre for short implants

NEW website See page 4 for more details

www.theimplantcentre.com

The Implant Centre - Summer 2014 2

loading doesn’t damage the bone around an implant, in fact it makes the bone stronger. Very high implant occlusal forces can however break the implant components if they are extreme, so is still vitally important to get the occlusion right!

What can we do? Even the narrow 3.5mm diameter short implant can support a large molar crown with ease. Forget any of the rules you’ve learned about teeth and crown:root ratios; these are simply not relevant for implants as they lack the flexible periodontal ligament found

around teeth and instead are completely immobile within the bone.

Here are some images showing the short implants clinically. We never worry the implant breaking as we have yet to see a single Ankylos implant fracture – the only breakages we ever see are of the abutments and even this is very rare and can usually be managed by just replacing the abutment.

Bill Schaeffer, one of our centre’s founders, is recognised as one of the foremost speakers on short implants anywhere in the world, and you can enjoy hearing him talk about this at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHMshNKks5o

CONT. Short Ankylos implant is a ‘game-changer’

Training with The Implant CentreTraining Videos for dentists & nurses Our website (address below) has been updated with some excellent videos to help remind you of the kind of information you can easily forget when you’re not doing a procedure on a daily basis. Say you’ve forgotten the perfect sequence for fitting an implant crown, then simply head to the website and watch this section.

We know how much our training evenings are appreciated, so we felt it could be useful to get them onto the screen in simple-to-watch formats. In them Matt Rose, implant surgeon

and restorative dentist at The Implant Centre, can help you with your practice by demonstrating the skills he uses every day. Even the most experienced practitioner may pick up some tips, and remember we are more than willing to learn from you and to pass the information on. Who knows, maybe you can change dental practice for everyone.

Your nurses play a vital role in your practices and we will be producing videos emphasising the importance of the role they play in the implant process and demonstrating how they can improve their skills. We would love to know what other subjects you’d like us to cover in these video tutorials, so please take the time to email us with your requests.

New Training Facility – what are we planningWe have now completed the latest phase in the development of The Implant Centre. Although we have always offered training, we have never had the luxury of a custom designed training facility like the one we have created in what is the massive basement of our Hove property. We can

nurses and hygienists. Again we want to know what you want to talk about – our goal is a teaching experience where we all learn from each other and we are able to pass information on to everyone. Perhaps holding evenings with groups of similar experience will stimulate case-based discussions in an open forum – we will always be delighted to serve some quality food and drinks to help these discussions along.

Our Open Door PolicyWe have always had an open door policy at The Implant Centre. You and your nurse are welcome to come and spend the day with our surgical and restorative teams and gain some valuable one-to-one mentoring. If you have yet to restore your first implant then why not do this at the centre assisted by one of our experts. This reassuring service is completely free, though you should still charge the patient yourself as normal.

accommodate 30 delegates at a time, although prefer smaller groups, with video links to the surgery and access to all our patient images and x-rays.

Soon we’ll be announcing courses for dentists of all levels of implant experience as well as courses for

www.theimplantcentre.com/training-videos

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Haywards Heath has had a make-over!

Syncone – the removable bridge optionWe have been offering this removable Ankylos option to patients as a cost-effective alternative to fixed full-arch bridges. The cost is £10,000 from start to finish, though once trained, you can carry out the restorative part of this treatment in your own practice. Recently we have seen an increase in the number of cases going through the centre and suspect that this is because we have tried and now trust this option for full-arch bridgework. Syncone is nothing like a removable denture - it is much, much more, and we are increasingly recommending this technique.

The removable bridge is seated entirely on the implants and not on the gums so giving absolute stability comparable to that of a fixed implant bridge. The huge advantage is that patients are able to remove the bridges that are ‘taper-locked’ to the implants, so allowing easy access for cleaning. Of course some patients will prefer a bridge that never comes out, and will therefore opt for a fixed bridge rather than a removable one and The Implant Centre team will help guide them in making the right choice for their mouth.However, we see huge advantages for periodontally susceptible patients because of the easy access for cleaning. In fact these Syncone bridges are so secure that we occasionally need to

supply patients with a bridge-remover to tap the bridge off - engineering that really works!

The implants are placed as parallel as possible and then the abutments

allow for small angle changes. The abutments have a 5 degree taper and there are prefabricated components that seat perfectly with an amazing level of retention. The denture can be hollowed out and these caps picked up in the mouth for immediate loading protocols. We feel it is then necessary to make a new prosthesis once integration is

achieved after 8-10 weeks. We can easily teach you this final fabrication technique which will allow you to start on your own cases. You are of course welcome to come in and see cases

being restored. Interestingly the final bridge need only be in acrylic as it is felt that an underlying metal frame will weaken the acrylic leading to cracking. This in turn keeps the lab fees low - just an all-acrylic prosthesis and some factory made components. Removable dentures on bars are things of the past; they are wildly complex and they come at a very high cost with frequent complications in the prosthesis.

Advantages of removable bridges:

• Patient-friendly immediate loading.

• Stable and immovable prosthesis fixation.

• Removable for optimum hygiene maintenance.

• Ideal for periodontal patients.

• Economical as uses prefabricated components.

We are still offering the option of patients seeing one of our Implant Coordinators for a free initial assessment. They can discuss anything they want to know about implants, be reassured about the procedure and meet some of the team. Although a standard assessment involving one of our dentists or surgeons costs £150, the planning takes up to an hour and includes all radiographs with full examination, a detailed treatment plan and in more complex cases, further appointments.

Finance packages are of course available for all patients who elect to go forward for treatment.

Yet more investment has gone into expanding our cutting-edge Ceramic Designs laboratory based at our Hove centre. Opened only in March 2013, the large numbers of implants we’re placing has meant that we rapidly ran out of space. We have now more than trebled the size of the laboratory, giving us room to expand even further over the coming years.

Our main focus with the laboratory is on maintaining quality and we are enormously proud of what we have achieved here. We will be letting you know much more about the laboratory in the coming months and how you can refer your implant cases to it.

Check out our ‘new’ websitewww.theimplantcentre.com is undergoing some very major changes to make it even more accessible and informative than ever. We’re doing it because The Implant Centre is recognised as one of the UK’s most technically advanced implant clinics, so

Change what you offer in your practice Hove: The Implant Centre, 61 Holland Road, Palmeira Square, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 1JN

Tel: 01273 766 690

Email: info@theimplantcentre.com Online: www.theimplantcentre.com

Refer a patient and restore the case following free trainingWe offer all the training and all the implant equipment required to restore your first case – even the impression components. Consider stepping into the same shoes as so many of your colleagues and contact us to enjoy this aspect of dentistry that will transform the treatment plans you can offer to your patients.

Contact us for a free pack containing new referral forms and prepaid envelopes. We also have patient brochures for implants or periodontal treatment and leaflet display stands.

Cutting the cost for your patients – free initial assessments

Haywards Heath: The Implant Centre, 5 Heath Square, Boltro Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 1BL

Tel: 01444 474015

it’s important that our web presence should reflect all that’s good in modern web design. The upgrade is not simply cosmetic. We aim to deliver a really vibrant user-experience for our patients, and over the next six months we will be greatly expanding and developing the Dentist section (top right of the screen) to make it into the ‘go to’ place for dentists seeking information on any aspect of restoring implants.

- our in house lab