Let’s invent the future together!
Missing teeth is a common problem in our daily clinical practice, whether you are a GP or a specialist. Chronic tooth loss often results in tilted adjacent teeth, elongation of antagonistic teeth, bone resorption in the edentulous zone, and even maxillary sinus pneumatization. These issues present great challenges for orthodontic or implant therapy. Well designed orthodontic treatment can create more favorable soft and hard tissue conditions and establish a solid foundation for following prosthetic or implant therapy.
Regretfully this is not what we normally observe in our patients. All too often patients receive, what I call “fast food implant therapy” , by only filling up the space with implants when obvious malocclusion and mal-alignment are neglected and untreated. Since late 2010 we have embarked a journey to challenge such practice, and engage in the development of more orthodontic and implant combined treatment. The first international professional association, the International Association of Orthodontists and Implantologists, was formed and the first annual meeting was held in December 2011 in Taipei, Taiwan. In this year’s annual symposium, we are excited to have Dr. Thomas Han from UCLA, Dr. Kwang Bum Park from South Korea, our very own Dr. John Lin and myself to share our lessons learned in implant dentistry and ortho-implant combined treatment. In addition, six doctors from a new generation have taken up the challenge to become the first class of IAOI diplomates by presenting their ortho-implant combined case report.
As Steve Jobs said, “We are proud of what we do and what we don’t do.”I’m equally proud to say that the kind of work we are doing is to invest in the future of dentistry for the wellbeing of our patients-our parents and children. And just as what Jobs confidently and rightfully announced, “the best way to predict the future is to invent one,” I sincerely invite you to join us in inventing a better future for our profession. I expect to see all of you at the second annual conference titled, A symphony of Orthodontics and Implantology on December 9, 2012 in Taipei, Taiwan.
Chris Chang DDS, PhD, Publisher
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