www.osseo.org

Drs. Clark Stanford, Alan Pollackreceive gold pins as Academy Fellows

A quarterly publication of the Academy of OsseointegrationVolume 23, Number 2 • 2012

In This Issue

President’s Message:What is the strength of the AO? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Whose implant is it, anyway? Dr. Bruce K. Barr . . . .3Florida members urged tocontact PR Task Force with cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Dr. David Cochran elected AOPresident, heads slate . . . . . . . .6OF announces new officers . . .7Phoenix Annual Meetingattendance hits 3,209/photo report . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-9New AO logo is available formember websites . . . . . . . . . .10Production of AO FoundersVideo underway, after interview taping . . . . . . . . . . .11Young Clinicians Corner:Strike up a conversation, Dr. Michael Jaffin . . . . . . . . . .12Academy News welcomes new editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13OF charitable grant programaccepting applications . . . . . .13Editor’s Editorial:Should we lower expectations? . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Academy NewsAcademy of Osseointegration85 W. Algonquin Road, Suite 550Arlington Heights, IL 60005847/439-1919

EditorKevin T. McNally, DDS

Editorial ConsultantsEdward M. Amet, DDS, BS, MSDBruce K. Barr, DDSDaniel R. Cullum, DDSBarry R. Franzen, DDSPaige Warren Miller, DDS

© The Academy of Osseointegration. All rights reserved.

Director Dr. Clark M.Stanford, Iowa City, IA, andAO Treasurer Dr. Alan S.Pollack, New York, NY,received certificates and goldpins confirming their accep-tance as Fellows of theAcademy at the PhoenixAnnual Meeting.

A task force chaired by Dr.Michael R. Norton, London,England, recently completed acomprehensive rewrite ofrequirements to make theFellowship program moremeaningful and more attainable.

Applicants for Fellowship must be qualifiedDMD/DDS/PhD or equivalent, with aminimum of ten years actively involved indentistry, in either a clinical or researchsetting or working in an implant-relatedacademic position for a minimum threedays per week. They must be AO membersfor five consecutive years and have attend-ed three AO Annual Meetings within thelast seven years. They must also providesupporting testimonials from two currentAcademy Fellows (the AO directoryincludes a listing).

To qualify as a Fellow, an applicant mustachieve a minimum of 15 points, including

6 for service to the Academy, 5 for studyand publications, and 4 for presentations.Fellows may also receive points for out-reach and philanthropy, but no points arerequired from that section.

Service to the Academy may be serving onand chairing committees or serving on theBoards of the Academy or theOsseointegration Foundation.

Study and publications can include sevenconsecutive years of implant related ADA-CERP participation, obtaining a higherdegree in a University-based ImplantProgram (Masters or equivalent only),authoring or co-authoring articles onimplant dentistry published in a peer-review journal, authoring or co-authoring a

…continued on page 12

…continued on page 13The purpose of the Academy of Osseointegration is to advance the science and application of tissue replacement in oral and facial care.

AO President Dr. Kenneth Hinds presents Fellowship certificates to Drs.Clark Stanford (left) and Alan Pollack.

The Academy of Osseointegration’s mission is “to enhanceoral health globally by advancing the science, practice andethics of implant dentistry and tissue engineering.” The AOdirectory, in describing the organization, says that it “is amulti-disciplinary, international dental implant organizationthat exists to bring together individuals of different back-grounds in order to share experience and knowledge regardingdental implants.”

Academy members share the common goal of moving the fieldof osseointegrated implants forward through clinical and evi-dence-based research and education. One of the strengths ofthe Academy of Osseointe gration is our diversity, with morethan 6,000 members from 73 countries.

On the AO’s website, it states, “TheAcademy of Osseointegration’s dedica-tion to the highest standard in patientcare, research and education remain thereason so many professionals havemade the decision to ally themselveswith this leading organization.”

Reflecting on these words got me think-ing about the AO’s many strengths.

One of our strengths has been visionaryand hard-working leaders. We are for-tunate to have been led so ably last yearby Dr. Ken Hinds. Ken invested aninordinate amount of time over the lastfew years reviewing and revamping ourcommittee structure, so that it was streamlined and includedonly necessary and functional working groups. In addition,Ken guided the organization along the strategic plan that hadbeen established by the Board based upon member feedback.

One aspect of the strategic plan that has evolved for severalyears is a focus on activities outside North America. While thevast majority of the AO membership is located in the UnitedStates, Academy membership is open internationally. TheBoard of Directors has made a conscientious effort to find amechanism to support AO membership globally. In the latesteffort in this regard, the Board has voted to establish pilot char-ter chapter groups around the world, with the first being orga-nized by Director Dr. Michael R. Norton this fall in London.

During this year, your leadership will spend time focused onupdating its strategic plan and evaluating the Annual Meeting.While both efforts have been successful in the past, the leader-ship has to be focused on what this organization will be andshould be in the next 5 to 10 years. Like any other business thatstarts out and grows enormously over a relatively short periodof time, implant dentistry has proceeded through an enormousgrowth phase over the last 30 years and is nothing like it was 20

years ago or even 10 years ago. Without a doubt, implant den-tistry in the next 10 years will be nothing like it is today.

AO’s leadership is excited about this organization and the greatthings that it has done in the past and is currently engaged in.In fact, the organization is at this time making a FoundersVideo history of the organization based upon interviews with anumber of the past presidents and other early founders.

It is curious that each of the American Dental Association- recognized specialties that provide most of AO’s members –periodontics, prosthodontics, and oral and maxillofacialsurgery – have education in their missions and have annualmeetings that provide a number of course offerings on dental

implants. Yet many specialists comeeach year to the AO Annual Meetingand belong to the AO. It is also curi-ous, with so many offerings of dentalimplant courses around the world eachyear, that international members alsojoin and attend the annual AO meetingas well. The better we understand the“draw” of AO membership and itsAnnual Meeting, the better leadershipof the Academy can continue to pro-vide its membership what they wantfrom the organization.

I often wondered about this over theyears, particularly early on, since myassumption was that dental implanteducation and research would be incor-

porated into each of the specialty organizations. This has, infact, occurred, but in spite of this, the AO continues to growin membership and annual meeting attendance.

Since its first meeting in 1986 in Chicago, the membershipand attendance at our Annual Meeting has grown virtuallyevery year. We started with a few hundred members in themid-1980s and have grown steadily to more than 6,000 today.Annual Meeting attendance has grown from less than 1,000 inthe early years to just fewer than 2,000 by the late 1990s tomore than 4,400 for the two joint meetings in 2003 and 2008.Annual Meeting attendance now routinely runs over 3,000.

What is it that attracts us to this organization? We know thatthe organization is made up of periodontists, 30%, generalpractice dentists, 25%, prosthodontists, 22%, oral surgeons,20%, endo dontists and others, 3%. One of the tenets of the AOhas been the so-called “team approach to implant dentistry.” Ibelieve this term has different meanings for different people,but at the end of the day, I think we all recognize that implantdentistry is not so much about “osseointegration” as it is about“tooth replacement.”

President’s Message

What is the strength of the AO?By Dr. David L. Cochran

2

…continued on page 12

Outgoing President Drs. Kenneth Hinds (left) and DavidCochran celebrate the passing of the gavel of AO leadership.

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When a long lostpatient, last seenhaving two nice-ly done implant-supportedpremolars,appears withinfected implantssupportingstrawberry sizedcrowns that seem

to be growing a cement beard, and arenow the lone abutments of a 12-unitcantilever bridge, with components thathave come apart or maybe never fit, andhas been treated by five different dentaloffices over the last 15 years, with thefinal two using outdoor deck pressurewashers in the sulcus and, due to a loss indental insurance, this chain-smoking dia-betic has not been seen by a dentist for ayear, you have to wonder:at this point, whoseimplant is it, anyway?

This question and the pre-ceding scenario are not asexaggerated as they mayseem. Both surgical and restorative den-tists’ schedules are becoming increasinglyfilled with patients presenting whoseproblems are related to their implantdentistry. Often procedures intended torepair the influx of infected tissue orimplants are time-consuming, expensive,only moderately successful, and, notinfrequently, they involve the loss of boththe prosthesis and the implants.

How satisfying it would be to implicatethe weekend-trained implantologists asthe sole source of these problem cases! Ajudicious examination of the issue, how-ever, brings not smug vindication, butthe burden of some responsibility. Forthe most part, these are implants placedby us, and some so long ago that thecharts are inked on papyrus. Althoughmany variables are implicated in thesecomplications, there seems to be a con-sistent factor: lackadaisical post-insertioninvolvement by many surgical practices.In many ways, we have accepted “a setthem and forget them” mentality.

Twenty-five years ago, the question ofimplant ownership would have been

superfluous. Restorative and surgicalteams could almost recite from memorythe status of every case as well as theactual implant sizes and positions. Justprior to this time, these same practition-ers would bring patients back on almostany pretense, just to marvel that healthyimplants were still present, supportingthese restorations. Much has changed.The elimination of screw loosening dueto torque wrenches and the advent ofcementation, along with numerousinternal prosthetic connections, coupledwith the explosion in volume and highsuccess rates, have contributed to a falseexpectation of implant immutability.The result has seemingly renderedshared implant maintenance an unneces-sary and rare, or at least casual, endeavoron both the part of the surgeons andrestorative dentists.

Some restorative practices, especiallythose not used to working in surgicalteams and seldom seeing problems, orhaving inherited the treated patient dueto many factors, such as insurance, mayquestion the value of the shared carewith a surgeon he or she does not know.They may even resent the loss ofincome and case control. Patients oftenresist due to expense, inconvenience,and the perceived unnecessary duplica-tion of service when there is never aproblem found.

Surgeons, who may spend weeks plan-ning the execution of a case and a yearcompleting it with the most exactingand sophisticated technology, often washtheir hands of any maintenance respon-sibility and are reticent to voice strongopinions on prosthetic case designs, suchas connections, embrasures, or splinting.Understandably, they choose to avoidconflict with those from whom theyreceive their referrals and negotiate thispolitical impasse by convincing them-selves their referring offices will alertthem to early implant problems whennecessary. This delusion comes to a head

when Dr X, whom you have never met,refers to the office Mrs. Y, because yourimplant is failing. Once again, you askyourself: after all this time, whoseimplant is it, anyway?

For years, some surgeons scrupulousabout maintenance and staying apprisedof the case required patients to signforms delineating the responsibility ofeach party regarding compliance. Copieswere sent to restorative dentists; how -ever, arming oneself with such exculpa-tory documentation hardly negates thepotential for loss of reputation. Moreimportantly, it does not eliminate thedisappointment felt by patients and den-tists when problems that could havebeen limited by early detection occur.

Many surgical offices readily repair orreplace problem implants at no fee with-

in the first few years oftheir installation. It isaccepted as a cost of doingbusiness. At some point,however, the surgeon’sresponsibility blurs andthen disappears if the

restorative dentists and or the patientsrefuse an active role in maintenance.Obviously, in the vast majority of casesthere is little to be concerned about andgranting that implant dentistry is arestoratively driven discipline, surgeonsare not the implant police. Manyrestorative dentists are, after all, veryknowledgeable and capable of maintain-ing their implant patients, who oftenalso have many natural teeth.

The question of who is fundamentallyresponsible for what specific aspect ofimplant repair and maintenance protocolmerits its own individual discourse.However, whether you apply a financial,legal, biologic, or ethical perspective tothe question of whose implant is it,there is always one factor looming in theshadows that will help provide theanswer; if you were the surgeon whoplaced the implant, in some ways it willalways be yours.

Academy Member Dr. Bruce K. Barr, a peri-odontist, practices in Virginia Beach, VA.

Dr. Bruce Barr

Whose implant is it, anyway?By Bruce K. Barr, DDS

“Both surgical and restorative dentists’schedules are becoming increasinglyfilled with patients whose problemsare related to their implant dentistry.”

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5

One of the key components of theAcademy’s multi-faceted public relationscampaign is to publicize the top presen-tations made on the scientific programat the Academy’s Annual Meeting.

The AO Board of Directors and thePublic Relations Task Force have deter-mined that these presentations are notlikely to command media coverageunless we can lead with real life caseexamples provided by AO members inthe area of the Annual Meeting’s hostcity. Next year, that will be Tampa, FL,March 7-9.

“We are calling on AO members inFlorida, especially the Tampa area, tooffer case examples from their practicethat will provide compelling human sto-ries of lives transformed by dentalimplants,” says AO Vice President Dr.

Joseph E. Gian-Grasso, Philadelphia,PA, who chairs the Public RelationsTask Force.

“We know our Florida members havemany cases that tell the story of dentalimplants, and judicious use of these casescan help establish AO as the leadingauthority on dental implant therapy,”Dr. Gian-Grasso says.

“We ask that any member who thinks heor she may have a case that we canshowcase in Tampa contact me (joeggdmd@aol.com) or AO public relations consultant, Dick Bragaw (rbragaw@bragawpr.com),” Dr. Gian-Grasso adds. No case will be publicizedwithout careful approval by the memberdentist and the patient.

Another important element of the publicrelations campaign will be to publicize

the recipients of the OsseointegrationFoundation’s charitable grant program.This publicity will feature the grantrecipients’ testimonials and concentratepublicity on their hometown media.

The Task Force agreed to give conebeam dental radiography and osteoporo-sis and bisphosphonates priority fordevelopment of backgrounders to pro-vide working guidelines for theAcademy’s spokespersons to use inresponding.

In addition to Dr.Gian-Grasso, mem-bers of the Task Force are Drs. Kevin T.McNally, Culver City, CA; Alan S.Pollack, New York, NY; Thomas J.Salinas, Rochester, MN; and Lambert J.Stumpel, San Francisco, CA.

Florida members urged to contact PR Task Forcewith case examples to tell human story of implants

6

David Cochran, DDS, PhD, elected AO President,heads slate of newly-elected officersDavid L. Cochran, DDS, PhD, SanAntonio, TX, a board certified peri-odontist, was elected President of theAcademy of Osseointegration (AO) dur-ing the organization’s annual businessmeeting in Phoenix, AZ. He succeeds

former Academy President Kenneth F.Hinds, DDS, Laguna Niguel, CA, ageneral practice dentist.

Newly elected officers of the AO Boardof Directors with Dr. Cochran are:

• Stephen L. Wheeler, DDS, oral andmaxillofacial surgeon from Encinitas,CA, President-elect;

• Joseph E. Gian-Grasso, DMD, peri-odontist from Philadelphia, PA, VicePresident;

• Alan S. Pollack, DDS, periodontistfrom New York, NY, Treasurer;

• Russell D. Nishimura, DDS,prosthodontist from WestlakeVillage, CA, continues as Secretary.

AO President: Dr. David CochranDr. Cochran is Professor and Chairman,Department of Periodontics, at TheUniversity of Texas Health ScienceCenter at San Antonio Dental School.He was previously Director ofPostgraduate Periodontics at theMedical College of Virginia, Richmond.

An AO member since 1996 and Boardmember since 2002, Dr. Cochran co-chaired the Academy’s 2006 State of theScience on Implant Dentistry Workshop.He has served on the Academy’s Board asSecretary, Treasurer and Director, andwas Program Chair for AO’s 2001 AnnualMeeting in Toronto, ON, Canada.

Dr. Cochran is also Past President of theAmerican Academy of Periodontology(AAP), a Past president of the SouthwestSociety of Periodontists, a Fellow of theAcademy of Osseointegration, a Fellowand Board member of the International

Team for Implantology, and a Fellow ofboth the American and InternationalCollege of Dentists. He has receivedtwo outstanding of the year alumniawards from the Graduate School ofBasic Sciences at the Medical College ofVirginia/Virginia CommonwealthUniversity.

Dr. Cochran is a graduate of theUniversity of Virginia and received hisDDS and PhD in Biochemistry from theMedical College of Virginia. Hereceived his periodontology trainingfrom the Harvard School of DentalMedicine. He was also awarded an hon-orary doctorate from the University ofBern in Switzerland for his contribu-tions to implant dentistry.

He is an active clinical and basic scienceresearcher who has received fundingfrom both the NIH-NIDCR and privateindustry and earned awards for hisresearch work at both the national andinternational levels.

AO President-elect: Dr. Stephen WheelerDr. Wheeler’s private practice is basedin Encinitas, CA, where he provides afull scope of oral, maxillofacial and dental implant surgery. One of the firstdoctors in the U.S. to begin titaniumdental implant placement in the mid-1980s, he went on to establish theRancho Santa Fe Dental Implant

Dentistry Club as a forum for implantdentistry training and education.

He has been an AO director since 2004and previously served as Treasurer, Secre -tary, and Vice President. Dr. Wheeler

chaired AO’s Ad Hoc Committee onInternational Relations, the Council onExpanding Implant Utilization, the AdHoc Committee on Website andElectronic Services and the ProfessionalRelations Committee. In addition, hechaired the Professional Staff Educationand Public Awareness Subcommittees.

AO Vice President: Dr. Joseph Gian-GrassoA Diplomate of the American Board ofPeriodontology, Dr. Gian-Grasso specializes in the areas of periodonticsand dental implantology in aPhiladelphia group practice. He servedas Clinical Assistant Professor of Post-Graduate Periodontics at the Universityof Pennsylvania’s School of DentalMedicine, Clinical Associate Professorof Periodontology at Temple UniversitySchool of Dentistry, and Director of theImplantology Center at the MedicalCollege of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Gian-Grasso is chair of theAcademy’s Public Relations Task Force.He was elected to the AO Board in 2004and previously served as Secretary andTreasurer.

AO Treasurer: Dr. Alan PollackDr. Pollack devotes his Manhattan-based private practice to periodonticsand implant dentistry. He joined theAcademy’s Research Committee in 1998

Dr. David Cochran Dr. Stephen Wheeler Dr. Joseph Gian-Grasso Dr. Alan Pollack Dr. Russell Nishimura

…continued on page 7

7

Slate of new AO officers …continued from page 6

and chaired it from 2002-2004. Heserved on the Nominations Committeeand became a Board Director in 2007.He has served on the Editorial ReviewBoard of the Academy’s journal, Inter -national Journal of Oral and MaxillofacialImplants, since 2006. He is a Fellow ofthe Academy and of the InternationalTeam for Implantology (ITI).

He has had hospital affiliations atMemorial Sloan-Kettering CancerCenter and Beth Israel Medical Center.

AO Secretary: Dr. Russell NishimuraDr. Nishimura currently maintains a pri-vate practice limited to prosthodonticsand implant dentistry in WestlakeVillage, CA.

He is Professor Emeritus at the UCLASchool of Dentistry, where he taughtremovable prosthodontics and chaired

the RPD, Immediate Denture andImplant courses.

Dr. Nishimura is a Fellow of theAcademy and has been an active memberfor many years. He was elected to theBoard in 2005 and served as Treasurerbefore becoming Secretary last year. Heis past chair of the Membership andInternational Relations committees.

Academy Officers and Directors continu-ing their service on the Board ofDirectors are Dr. Hinds, Past President;and Directors Tara L. Aghaloo, DDS,MD, PhD, Los Angeles, CA; Jay P.Malmquist, DMD, Portland, OR;Michael R. Norton, BDS, London, UK;Steven J. Rosenstein, DMD, Aventura,FL; Clark M. Stanford, DDS, PhD,Iowa City, IA; and James C. Taylor,BSc, DMD, MA, Ottawa, Ontario,Canada.

Osseointegration Foundation announces new officersThe Osseointegration Foundation (OF)has named officers for 2012: this year’sPresident is Dr. Jonathan H.Orenstein, Marlton, NJ, and Dr. Luis J.Fujimoto, New York, NY, advances toVice President. Dr. Clarence C.“Lindy” Lindquist, Washington, DC,will be Secretary/Treasurer. Dr. EdwardM. Amet, OverlandPark, KS, is ImmediatePast President.

In addition to these offi-cers, five Directors-At-Large serve in asupportive capacity.New to the Board areDrs. Michael A. Pikos,Palm Harbor, FL, andKenneth F. Hinds,Laguna Niguel, CA, the AO ImmediatePast President, who serves one year.They will join the current Directorsserving out their terms and include Drs.Kevin T. McNally, Culver City, CA,Myron Nevins, Swampscott, NJ, andMollie A. Winston, Atlanta, GA.

OF is the philanthropic arm of theAcademy of Osseointegration and ischartered to develop and provide finan-cial support for the art and science of

osseointegration. Grants are awardedannually for research as well as patienttreatment. Its operation is guided by aBoard of Directors made up of Academymembers.

The OF receives its financial supportfrom corporate contributions and gifts

from Academy members and others. TheTitanium Society is a group of Academymembers who have committed supportat the $10,000 level, although there aremany levels of OF participation.

If implant dentistry has been good foryour practice, the Academy invites you toconsider making a contribution to sup-port the ongoing efforts of training,research, and patient care that is the focusof the Osseointegration Foundation.

The Titanium Society acts as an advisory committee to theOsseointegration Foundation Board ofDirectors and is also a classification ofdonorship to the Foundation.

The Titanium Society was developed to include 100 of the most highly

respected and distin-guished members inimplant dentistry, whomust commit to donat-ing a minimum of$10,000 to theOsseointegrationFoundation within afour-year period. Priorcontributions to theOsseointegrationFoundation may be

considered in meeting the $10,000 goal.

If you are interested in becoming aTitanium Society member, a download-able Titanium Society application isavailable on the OsseointegrationFoundation section of the Academy’sWebsite (www.osseo.org) or by contact-ing the Academy of OsseointegrationExecutive Office at 847-439-1919, or byemail at academy@osseo.org.

Dr. Jonathan Orenstein Dr. Luis Fujimoto Dr. Clarence Lindquist

2013 AnnualMeeting, March 7-9,will be AO’s firsttime in Tampa, FLThe 2013 AO AnnualMeeting on March 7-9 inTampa, FL, will be the firstever held in the city. TheTampa Convention Center isright on the Tampa Bay waterfront.

Theme for the meeting will be,“Moving Forward: Evidence,Experience, Excellence.”

Program Chair Dr. Dean Morton,Louisville, KY, and the 2013 AnnualMeeting Committee have alreadyplanned an outstanding program forAcademy’s 28th Annual Meeting.

8

Phoenix Annual Meeting attendance hits 3,209

President Dr. Kenneth Hinds (left) and Program ChairDr. Michael Block open the 27th AO Annual Meeting.

Total attendance at the Phoenix Annual Meeting hit 3,209, including 1,614 dentists,Executive Director Kevin P. Smith reports. While not a record, attendance exceededexpectations, considering the western location and the economy. AO’s membership islargest along the East Coast.

International attendance was 579, representing 55 countries, led by Japan (74), Brazil(72), Canada (67), Italy (57) and Mexico (53). States sending the most registrants wereCalifornia (259), Arizona (116), New York (111), Pennsylvania (71), Texas (65), and Florida (59).

Exhibit sales rose, and many programs had an up year, including Corporate Forums, corporate sponsorships, Limited Attendance Lectures, Roundtables, and Lunch andLearns. Exhibitor attendance of 1,203 was about even with the previous three years.

AO Past Presidents meet in Phoenix.

Drs. Kevin McNally (left) and Luis Fujimoto (right)greet Dr. Asbjorn Jokstad and his wife at thePresident’s Private Reception.

Takahiro Ogawa, DDS, PhD (center), accepts the WilliamR. Laney Award for best article published in IJOMI fromDrs. William Laney (left) and Steven Eckert (right).

Dr. Edward Amet (center) congratulates winners of the OFResearch Grants, David Kim, DDS, DMSc, (left) andGustavo Mendonca, DDS, MS (right).

Dr. Ross Towse (center) discusses his poster presentation.

Melker Nilsson (left), Drs. Ken Hinds, (second from right) andEdward Amet (far right) pose with Prof. Ulf Lekholm after beingawarded the Nobel Biocare Brånemark Osseointegration Award.

Dr. Kenneth Hinds presented Past President Dr.Peter Moy with an engraved nautical clock.

Drs. Kenneth Hinds and Wendy Croll Halpern (right), presentthe award for Best Poster Presentation to Thallita PereiraQueiroz, PhD.

AO Secretary Dr. Russell Nishimuraand his guest, Lori Adleman, enjoy thePresident’s Reception.

9

Attendees had plenty of opportunity to visit the Exhibit Hall.AO President Dr. Kenneth Hinds tours the exhibit floor with his wife, Candy, and other members of his office team.

A large room and outstanding audiovisual support made the back row of the AO General Session feel like the front row.

Nobel Biocare Brånemark Osseointegration Awardwinner Prof. Ulf Lekholm (left) accepts the congratu-lations of Drs. Laureen and Burton Langer.

AO President Dr. Kenneth Hinds presents a symbolic $1 millioncheck to OF President Edward Amet, signifying completion of theAcademy’s 4-year pledge.

Nobel Biocare's Tom Olsen (left) enjoys the President'sVIP Dinner with his guests, Dr. George Duello and hiswife, Colleen.

Our photographer caught three beautiful smiles atthe reception (from left): Lorraine Lindquist, Dr.Kirsten Wagner, and Joan Amet.

Jim Frontero (left) and Andy Molnar (right), of StraumannUSA, host Dr. Gerald Unhold and his guest, Sharon Dreeben,MD, at the reception.

Dr. Kenneth Hinds presents the BestOral Clinical Research Presen ta tion toDr. Nathanial Farley.

The President’s Reception at the Arizona Science Center wasan enjoyable and memorable evening for all who attended.

Dr. Amerian Sones (second from right) and her husband, Dr.Lawrence Wolinsky (left), entertain USC resident Dr.Yvonne Tam with Dr. Baldwin Marchack.

10

A specially designed logo/memberbadge is now available to active AOmembers for placement on their web-sites. By displaying this logo on theirpractice websites, members will identifythemselves as AO members – callingattention to their expertise in implantdentistry as well as providing a directlink to the patient education sec-tion of the AO website.

The modified logo is intended foronline use only (not for print) andcan be used in other forms ofelectronic media, such as e-mailsand e-newsletters. The logo isdesigned to include the “AO” offi-cial logo lettering to help establishthe AO brand with dental patients.

To receive this new logo, membersshould log on to the AO website at

www.osseo.org, proceed to theMembers Login section and click on thelink for “Request the new AO memberbadge.” Once active membership statushas been confirmed, the image files (formatted as JPEG, GIF, and PNGfiles) will be forwarded by email withguidelines for use.

“We have had many members requestthe AO logo for use on their websitesand are very happy to finally offer this

new member badge. Not only will theAO badge identify affiliation with theworld’s premier organization for theadvancement of implant dentistry butwill allow members’ patients a directlink into the AO online patient educa-tion resource,” says Terri Vargulich, AOMarketing Communications Manager.

“Studies show that patients aremore aggressively researchingtreatment options online and themore information practitionerscan provide through links to otherresources, the more value they addto their own websites,” Vargulichemphasizes. “We hope that allmembers choose to proudly dis-play this specially designed AO

logo and make the patient educationsection of the AO website one easy clickaway for their patients.”

New AO logo is available for members to display on their websites

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11

Production of AO Founders Video underway,after interview taping in Phoenix, New YorkProduction of the Academy’s Founders Video documentary isunderway, after completion of videotaped interviews with pastpresidents and founders during the Annual Meeting inPhoenix and, later in April in New York City, where theOsseointegration Study Club laid the foundation for AO.

“While the Academy enjoysworldwide recognition andrespect, many of our mem-bers are unaware of our ori-gins and the excitement andcontroversies that surroundedimplant dentistry in thoseearly years,” says Dr. Alan S.Pollack, New York, NY, whois leading the Founders VideoTask Force, with Drs. RussellD. Nishimura, WestlakeVillage, CA, and Michael R.Norton, London, England.

The AO Board committedseveral years ago to documentthe Academy’s remarkable beginnings, while memories arestill fresh. In 2008, A History of the Academy of Osseointegration,1985-2007, was published.

The Founders Video will add an oral history. It will begin in1984 with New York’s Osseointegration Study Club in which two of AO’s early presidents, Drs. Charles I. Bermanand Gerald Barrack, had important roles. For another partof the story, Dr. Peter K. Moy, Los Angeles, himself an AO past president, is leading a task force to documentProfessor P.I. Brånemark’s inspiring story of the discovery of osseointegration.

Dr. Pollack says the video will have many uses. “We plan tointroduce it by showing excerpts at an AO Annual MeetingGeneral Session. It will also be a most appropriate addition tothe new member breakfast held at each Annual Meeting.

“We will use the video in our public relations and post it onthe Academy’s Website, www.osseo.org, serving as theAcademy’s living archives. We expect the video will also beuseful for dental implant study clubs, dental schools, resident instruction, and resident recruitment programs,” Dr. Pollack explains.

“As our founders tell the story of the beginning of the scienceof implant dentistry, viewers will see in their faces the pride ofhaving participated in a bold adventure that is transformingthe dental field. Our goal is to take viewers back to betterunderstand when and how the Academy developed and whypeople have such a strong alliance to the organization today. Itwill increase appreciation for the pioneering spirit that moti-vated AO’s founders,” says Dr. Pollack.

The video will also trace the rise of a revolutionary development in rapidly advancing biotechnology involvingthe natural bond between bone and certain alloplastic reconstructive materials.

Dr. Norton moderated the tapings in bothPhoenix and New York. He was joined inNew York by Dr. Ronald B. Odrich, NewYork, NY.

In addition to Drs. Berman and Barrack, AOpast presidents interviewed (in order of serviceas president) include Drs. William R. Laney,Rio Verde, AZ, Paul H.J. Krogh, Bethesda,

MD, Thomas A. Collins,Springfield, MO,Stephen M. Parel,Dallas, TX, and MichaelS. Block, Metairie, LA.Another past president,Dr. James H.Doundoulakis, NewYork, NY, participated asa member of the NewYork OsseointegrationStudy Club.

Other Study Club partici-pants interviewed are Drs.Jeffrey R. Burkes, NewYork, Paul J. Hoffman,New York, Robert A.Jaffin, Hackensack, NJ,

Clifford E. Salm, New York, Allan Silverstein, New York,and Arthur P. Weinberg, Woodcliff Lake, NJ.

Founders Video moderator Dr. MichaelNorton prepares Past President Dr. PaulH.J. Krogh (back to camera) for his interview, as Dr. Alan Pollack coachesfrom the sidelines.

Past President Dr. Thomas A. Collinsbrought mementos of his leadership years tothe interview.

Member News

Dr. Fujimoto named to NYstate post; Dr. Doundoulakisexpands to Greenwich, CT• Dr. Luis J. Fujimoto, New York, NY, has been appointed

Chairman of the New York State Board of Dentistry, anagency of the New York State Department of Education.

• Dr. James H. Doundoulakis, New York, NY, hasopened a second office in Greenwich, CT, where he liveswith his wife, Maro, and two children, James, Jr., andThalia. The Greenwich Post’s announcement of the officeopening included a photo of Dr. Doudoulakis, his family,and Greenwich First Selectman Peter J. Tesei.

Congratulations, Drs. Fujimoto and Doundoulakis!

12

Young Clinicians Corner

Strike up a conversationBy Dr. Michael S. Jaffin, Hackensack, NJ, Young Clinicians Committee

Yet another AO Annual Meeting haspassed, and as I left Phoenix, I want toshare some thoughts as a member of theYoung Clinicians Committee.

First of all, we’d like to thank Dr.Kenneth Hinds for his leadership dur-ing the year and the entire Board fortheir hard work, which produced anotherexcellent program.

The most striking epiphany that I hadwas that these meetings are not just about the lectures, exhibits,and posters. While these are the main draws to any meeting,the greatest benefit that this particular meeting presents is themembership. I learn and observe as much in the hallways andon the exhibit floor as I do in the lectures themselves.

I had conversations with young clinicians like myself and withthe opinion leaders in prosthodontics, periodontics and oralsurgery as well as with everyone in between. I took homewith me plenty of literature and advertisements as well as newcontacts and pearls of wisdom that I cannot wait to imple-ment in private practice. When I got back from the meeting,I returned with a recharged perspective and vigor for implantdentistry. I know that I am not the only one to experiencethis phenomenon.

Throughout the meeting, I was able to speak with well estab-lished clinicians and was asked several times if I knew anyone

who was looking to be an associate or looking to buy a prac-tice in several regions. It occurred to me that we have a fan-tastic network of individuals who do not fully utilize thecapability of our organization. It means a lot to me when Iam looking at a poster or having lunch, and I have the oppor-tunity to pick the brain of someone who has a different per-spective than I do. These shared moments have led tocontinued contact after the meeting and have contributed asense of wider community for me.

The Young Clinicians Committee is actively working on bet-ter connectivity with technology and within institutions toseek out younger constituents and make them participatingmembers in the organization. This means that we need yourhelp as active members. This is a charge to the Academy toactively engage new members and the younger membership tocreate a more cohesive organization with less of a dichotomybetween members at different levels of experience.

Many newer members may be intimidated by the more experi-enced members and Fellows in our ranks and withhold ques-tions, comments, or interaction out of fear of being perceivedas ignorant, or an annoyance. My charge to you is at the nextmeeting that you attend to approach at least one person youdo not know and strike up a conversation.

I look forward to seeing and meeting many of you in Tampa,as well as watching our community grow. I know that Dr.David Cochran and the Board have a wonderful program instore for us.

Dr. Michael Jaffin

Maybe we should rename the organiza-tion the “Academy of ToothReplacement.” I would agree that this isnot such an attractive name, but it getsto the point that this aspect of dentistryis about a coordinated effort amongdentists (plural) and allied health profes-sionals. Is this the reason why we go to ameeting where multiple specialistsattend and share their experiences andinsights into the “best practices” oftooth replacement?

Dentists are in many cases a pretty com-petitive group, and maybe folks attendour meetings so that no one can “getahead” of the other or has found out atechnique or material that allows themto do a better job in tooth replacementfor their patients. I tend to be altruisticand believe that this is not the case for

most people and that we all want tointeract with team members and trulyattend the AO meeting to enhance ourpatient care.

Osseointegration grew out of a need forpredictability in patient care. Does ourattendance at the AO today grow out ofa similar need? Don’t we all want to do98% predictable bone grafting proce-dures? Don’t we all want to haverestorations that are 98% successful?Don’t we all want to have predictabletooth replacement with 98% patient sat-isfaction? We certainly all realize that“tooth replacement” requires the exper-tise of several disciplines. Maybe we areall also smart enough to know that theAO and its Annual Meeting helps us toachieve this goal!

President’s Message …continued from page 2

published book chapter or book onimplant dentistry or related research.

Presentations cover posters or otherpresentations at the AO AnnualMeeting, and plenary program presenta-tions on implant related subjects at con-ferences sponsored by other professionalorganizations.

Outreach and philanthropy covers dona-tions to the OsseointegrationFoundation and any outreach activitythat fulfills the AO’s mission statement.

Fellows …continued from page 1

Update member contact info atwww.osseo.orgDo we have your most current information forthe Membership Directory? Members mayupdate their contact information online atwww.osseo.org, or send an email to BarbaraHartmann, barbarahartmann@osseo.org.

13

The Academy News is pleased to intro-duce the addition of three new associateeditors to join the ranks of the NewsStaff. No stranger to these pages, Dr.Edward M. Amet, Overland Park, KS,Past President of the OsseointegrationFoundation and prosthodontist will joinnew editors Drs. Paige W. Miller, NewBern, NC, general dentist, and BruceK. Barr, Virginia Beach, VA, periodon-tist, in providing the newsletter contentthat you have come to enjoy on a quarterly basis. Continuing in theirefforts will be Drs. Daniel R. Cullum,Coeur D’Alene, OR, oral surgeon, andBarry R. Franzen, West Allis, WI,prosthodontist.

Here are some brief introductions toyour Academy News associate editors:

Dr. Edward Amet has been active in theAcademy, having been involved in theOsseointegration Foundation for manyyears, most recently as its President. Hisextensive list of accomplishments beginswith his dental training at NorthwesternUniversity and his Prosthodontic train-ing at the University of Missouri atKansas City, following a stint in theUnited States Air Force and ArmyReserve dental corps.

Dr. Bruce Barr received his certificatein periodontics from ColumbiaUniversity and is a Diplomate of theAmerican Board of Periodontology. He

is an assistant clinical professor of peri-odontics at VCU School of Dentistryand clinical instructor of otolaryngology,Eastern Virginia Medical School. He isthe director of dentistry at SentaraHospitals and in private practice inVirginia Beach, VA.

Dr. Dan Cullumcompleted hisDDS with dis-tinction at theUniversity ofAlberta, Canadaand residencytraining atWestchesterMedical Center,New York. He

practices oral and maxillofacial surgeryin Couer d’Alene, ID, with emphasis onimmediate and minimally invasive tech-niques in esthetic implant reconstruc-tion. At his clinical facility, ImplantsNorthwest, he provides training inadvanced techniques for surgeon/restorative teams, using live surgery andhands-on application in a small groupenvironment.

Dr. Barry Franzen is a 1982 graduate ofthe Marquette University School ofDentistry, Milwaukee, WI. He alsocompleted a three-year residency inProsthodontics and MaxillofacialProsthodontics at the University ofMissouri at Kansas City and Truman

Medical Center.Since 1985, hehas maintained aprivate practicelimited to allphases ofprosthodontics,but with a mainfocus on implantdentistry.

Dr. Paige Miller practices general den-tistry with her parents, Drs. Julien andMelinda Warren, in New Bern, NC.

She received herdental training fromthe University ofNorth Carolina,Chapel Hill, andjoined the Academyof Osseointegrationwhile doingresearch with Dr.Lyndon Cooper.She presented herresearch at the AO

meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,and was later published in IJOMI. Sheis happily married to Dr. Robert BaileyMiller and they have four children(“Three boys and finally a girl!”). Herhobbies include horseback riding, piano,scuba diving, snow skiing, historicpreservation, and boating.

Academy News welcomes new editorsBy Kevin T. McNally, DDS, Newsletter Editor

Dr. Dan Cullum

Dr. Paige Miller

Dr. Barry Franzen

OF Charitable Grant Program accepting applicationsThe Osseointegration Foundation’sCharitable Grant Program is nowaccepting applications.

The purpose of the Charitable Grant isto provide financial assistance (up to$10,000) to improve the lives of individ-uals diagnosed with a lifetime dentalcondition or for those who have hadsevere dental trauma and are unable toreceive needed dental therapy due toeconomic restraints. Grants will beawarded to AO members based on threemajor patient criteria:

1. Physical Disability: There must bepresentation of a disability that isamenable to implant therapy and for

which implant treatment would sig-nificantly improve the patient’s func-tional deficit and lifestyle.

2. Economic Status: There must bedocumented inability to receive need-ed implant therapy because of eco-nomic constraints of the patient.Economic hardship, however, is notthe primary or sole criterion forawarding of these grants.

3. Emotional Well Being: The benefitsof psychological or emotionalimprovement from implant therapywill be considered in the award selec-tion process.

The design of this program requiresinvolvement of OF’s commercial part-ners to provide service and/or hardwarefor the patients who become grant-funded. All materials should be donatedby the specified company. Participantsmust specify the particular products(including manufacturer names) at thetime of grant application.

The application and additional informa-tion can be found at: www.osseo.org/NEWfoundation.html or by contactingKim Scroggs, AO Manager ofEducation, at kimscroggs@osseo.org orat 847-439-1919.

14

This year’s Annual Meeting in Phoenixcontinued to impress with presenta-tions of outstanding clinical and scien-tific accomplishment. Seeminglyimpossible clinical problems morphedinto results that were functional and

artistic at the same time. The outcomes were testament to thetalents of all the clinicians involved and indeed to the patientswho proffered themselves for the treatment. It would be hard,after witnessing such expertise, to not be affected by the excel-lence of the outcomes and to return to work on Mondaymorning and not expect to attempt the same effort.

Of course, the greybeards among us may have a view that istempered by years of experience and perhaps view such dis-plays of excellence with a bit of reflection along with our viewsof admiration. The effortto restore a simple singletooth may well seem to beas complicated and difficult as a full arch ofteeth, depending on thecircumstances.

Despite the conflict oftreatment and circum-stance, the outcome is often imagined to be fairly clear andwell understood. Our vision of the outcome seems to be lessencumbered than the road to it. Most of us have a picture inours minds of how things should turn out, regardless of thetypes of problems we face. The connection between the twolies in our training, skill, artistry, experience, and judgment.

Assuming then that we have this “vision” of the outcome, whatcan be our expectations for the performance of all of thisimplant supported dentistry in our patient’s mouths? We havesome pretty good yardsticks from past traditional materials andtechniques to gage by from the lowly amalgam to the finestcast gold. Who doesn’t have an elderly patient with theserestorations pushing 40, 50, and 60 years of service? To be surethere are many cases of less performance and the debate onmaterials and patient biology is an ongoing enterprise.

Clouding this debate is the need to recognize that our expecta-tion of successful performance colors our views for any treat-ment we consider, including implant treatment. We expect ourimplant restorations to perform as well as our conventionaltreatment; indeed we expect them to be better in some cases.More importantly, our patients sense this and expect it as well.

Admittedly, there are many apples and oranges here from sin-gle tooth replacements in healthy young adults to full mouthreconstructions in the health-compromised elderly. In eachcase, however, the performance of the materials used presentsa challenge for our expectations of performance longevity. Anynumber of presentations on this topic bears this out.

The failure of our restorative materials used in implant-supported dentistry after a few years in service has become acommon topic of discussion. In some academic clinics as wellas private practices, it is common for two prostheses to beconstructed, one for the patient to use for a few years (not 10or 20) and the other to replace the first one when it breaks or“wears out”. (Do we then make a third, or fourth one?) Whilethis may be perceived by the patient as foresight on the part ofthe clinician, it honestly does not say much for the perfor-mance of these costly prostheses.

Perhaps then we do need to readjust our expectations in thelight of this reality. We also need to debate the performance ofour dental materials within the confines of patient biology andfunction. Our sophisticated body part replacements are con-nected to less than sophisticated plastic, metal alloy, and

ceramic contraptions thatdefy our best intentions toprovide durable, long-lasting restorations. Inlight of many recentadvances in ceramic andmetal technology and theimproved performance (sofar) of components made

from them, more needs to be done. A concerted effort on thepart of industry and dentistry alike is needed to improve theperformance of dental materials similar to the effort to devel-op reliable dental implants in the first place.

A strong case can be made that since the human mouth presents such an inhospitable place to do business, we shouldbe happy that anything works at all, and leave it at that.

Kind of like your new car turning into a rust bucket after afew years of driving on salted winter roads.

Somehow the acceptance of this premise doesn’t fit the philos-ophy of excellence that all of us have been exposed to in ourcareers as health care providers. After all, dentistry has beenworking under these adverse conditions since its beginnings.Techniques and materials have continued to improve to allowhigher levels of sophistication in dental health care. There isno question, however, that implants have tested the limits ofeverything we know.

Rather than lower our expectations until the Holy Grail ofmaterials is found, a concerted effort is needed to specificallyfocus our energies to improve performance, materials, anddesigns that will support our efforts to provide durable longerlasting implant supported restorations. While it may be unrealistic to expect perfection, there is no reason not to strivefor excellence.The Editor’s Editorial is intended to contribute to the dialogue on issues important to implantdentists. The views expressed in the editorial do not necessarily reflect the policy of the Academy ofOsseointegration or its Board of Directors. Readers who would like to comment or express a pointof view on the editorial are invited to write to the editor via email at ktmcnallydds@hotmail.com. We will endeavor to publish pertinent comments or views when space permits.

Editor’s Editorial

Should we lower expectations?By Kevin T. McNally, DDS, Newsletter Editor

Dr. Kevin McNally

“A strong case can be made that sincethe human mouth presents such aninhospitable place to do business, weshould be happy that anything worksat all, and leave it at that.”

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