The Pontic-Shield: Partial Extraction Therapy for Implant Dentistry
Augmentive ridge preservation techniques aim to manage the postextraction ridge. The partial extraction of teeth may better preserve the ridge form by maintaining the bundle bone-periodontal tissues and preserve the ridge beneath dentures or fixed prostheses. The socket-shield technique entails preparing a tooth root section simultaneous to immediate implant placement and has demonstrated histologic and clinical results contributory to esthetic implant treatment. A retrospective 10-patient case series treating 14 partial extraction sites demonstrates how a modification of the socket-shield technique can successfully develop pontic sites and preserve the ridge.

The Aesthetic Smile: Diagnosis and Treatment
Until recently, dentists' and the public's concept of dental aesthetics was necessarily limited to alterations of the teeth themselves. Dentists concerned themselves with changing the position, the shape and the color of the teeth -basically restoring missing units or enhancing those already present. For the most part the dentist was forced to accept the pre-existing relationship between the three components of the smile; the teeth, the gingival scaffold and the lips.

Alveolar Ridge Preservation and Reconstruction
Periodontal plastic surgery procedures designed to reconstruct deformed, partially edentulous residual ridges were introduced to the dental profession between 1971 and 1986. They have been revised and refined to their current state of development, where they now occupy a major place in the reconstructive armamentarium. Before these concepts were developed, it was generally believed that it was impossible to surgically reconstruct deformities in the partially edentulous ridge. Deformities were filled…

Periodontal Plastic Surgery in the Treatment of the Gummy Smile
Thanks to the constant advances in modern dentistry we can predict surgical results, stablishing new standards for diagnosis and develop treatments for periodontal plastic surgery as of Altered Passive Eruption by electrosurgery. This is used by the T- shaped regulation, provided by Dr. Chu for the accuracy golden proportions, which has became an innovative way to make cosmetic lengthening of the clinical crowns, covering changes in relations to size, shape, and balance of the teeth to obtain a radical variation in the front aesthetic of patients.

Prevention and Management of Peri-implant Soft Tissue Complications
A variety of soft tissue procedures have been employed for treatment of soft tissue and ridge defects around implant sites. Some of the limitations of current techniques include scar formation at recipient sites due to surface incisions, relapse of recession due to muscle pull during healing, wound dehiscence and graft exposure. This presentation will discuss the myriad flap and incision designs, tunnel techniques as well as grafting options and suturing.

Types of Instruments to use for Surgery
Watch Dr. Saadoun give a new tip of the week!

Tissue Engineering and Platelet Derived Growth Factors: Evidence Based Therapy
Platelet derived growth factors are now routinely utilized in reconstructive therapy. This presentation describes very detailed and evidence based guidelines for clinicians interested in enhancing their abilities in tissue engineering, especially as it relates to bone augmentation. Specifically, while successful bone augmentation requires the standard surgical parameters of space maintenance, low pressure on the grafts and tension-free flap closure, optimization of this goal requires management and enhancement of the local biological conditions with growth factors. Towards that end, platelet concentrates through the constant release of growth factors are able to promote and enhance new vascularization, provide plasma protein, normal lipidemia, as well as increased collagen and fibrin activity.

Plastic-Esthetic Periodontal and Implant Surgery: A Microsurgical Approach - Part 1
This 2 part presentation is a comprehensive overview of the principles, indications, and clinical techniques of plastic-esthetic periodontal and implant microsurgery, focusing especially on minimal soft tissue trauma and maximally perfect wound closure. Microsurgery provides clinically relevant advantages over conventional macro-surgical concepts for regenerative and plastic-esthetic periodontal surgery, especially in the all-important esthetic zone. The microsurgical principles and procedures presented will described using high resolution multimedia.

Peri-Implantitis: Diagnosis, Etiology and Treatment
The dental implant therapy has evolved both in implant surface and design. The reason for the initial crestal bone loss has been proven and the risks of having a peri-implantitis have increased due to the early exposure of roughened surface. The prevalence of peri-implantitis is at a range of 28 to 56%. The role of dental professionals nowadays is to know how to interpret the signs of inflammation and establish the diagnosis of peri-implantitis, which is the most challenging, and be able to treat it properly since this is becoming a more needed therapy.