Students of dental implantology should visit our free online resource, NYCdentist.com/Linkow, to read four complete textbooks written by Dr. Leonard Linkow, a pioneer in dental implants.  These books provide historical insight into the era or early modern implant dentistry.

Mandibular Dental Implants

Maxillary Dental Implants

Theories and Techniques of Oral Implantology (Volume 1)

Theories and Techniques of Oral Implantology (Volume 2)

As a practicing dentist I personally like and use BioHorizons dental implants (among other brands) but I would not buy shares in the company.

There are many dental implant manufacturers and each make claims for the superiority of their brand (e.g. Laser-Lok).  Beyond a certain point in quality many implant dentists feel that “a screw is a screw” and success depends more on how the implant is placed surgically and the quality of the prosthesis it supports.  In other words, success depends upon the carpenter not the screw.

Competition is fierce and discounting is commonplace in BioHorizons core business of dental implants and it became more intense in November 2010 with the purchase of Implant Direct by Sybron, a division of Danaher.  I can understand why the private equity firm behind BioHorizons wants to recoup their investment now but they can keep their stock.

Read The Wall Street Journal article.

Patient presented for the placement of implants with the oral surgeon. Patient had a 3-unit bridge teeth #3-5, with a mesial bony defect on #5. After the bridge came off, area #4 and 5 was left edentulous and needed to be restored. The patient preferred implants for the area #4, 5 and 8.

The oral surgeon started the procedure by allocating where to place the implants. Then he took a #15 blade and created a flap through the crest of the alveolar ridge. Suctioning and irrigation were done during the whole implant placement procedure. The General Dentist who was going to restore the implants was assisting the Oral Surgeon which made the procedure even more efficient because the two specialists were able to coordinate the optimal placement of implants for the benefit of the patient. The implants were placed perpendicular to the occlusal plane. However, the anterior implant was placed more subgingival than the posterior implants, for esthetic reasons. The whole procedure was done under local anesthesia and nitrous oxide.

Although the patient was really anxious before the procedure, the good social and professional techniques of the oral surgeon made the procedure as smooth as placing a sealant on a tooth. After the placement of the implants was completed, the oral surgeon sutured the flap sites and achieved hemostasis. During this time the general dentist relined the patient’s existing flipper in order for it to fit the mouth well after implant placement. We took a PAN of the patient right after this procedure was completed.

Both the oral surgeon and the general dentist were satisfied with the way these implants looked on the PAN. The implants had nice angulations and stayed away from adjacent teeth and their roots. The oral surgeon commented that he used the indirect sinus lift technique when placing these implants by lightly hammering the #4 and 5 implants into the sinus in order to push some bone out because the surgeon knew from the previous PAN that we needed 2-3 mm more of bone at the implant apex in order for the implant apex not to be exposed in the sinus.

The patient was really happy to have been done with this stage of surgery and she was really pleased how we helped her get through this as a team.

R.F., New York University College of Dentistry, Observation