Aaron Fenton: The impact of osseointegration on the edentulous predicament - the fixed management option

Where would we be without the gift of dental implants today ? In light of a growing elderly population, Dr Fenton presents a journey through treatment of edentulous patients from the pre-implant times in dentistry till today's advanced options and future advances and opportunities. Dr Fenton discusses the challenges and sequelae of tooth loss and denture wear, prosthetic, dental and surgical therapies, and the advantages of implant based treatment options. Tooth loss can cause psycho-social impairment, anatomical changes, speech and chewing adaptation and will eventually lead to the 3R: reline, rebase and remake. Dentures and denture wear can lead to social stigmatization, alteration in taste and chewing capabilites and varying coping and tolerance, as well as on the tissue side to denture stomatitis, ridge resorption and soft tissue hyperplasia. Today, preprosthetic surgery to improve these treatment sequelae and predicaments is considered to be an obsolete treatment, and almost replaced by dental implant treatment. Implant treatment has evolved to modern, straightforward designs with reduced cantilever length and fewer implants such as All-on-4, and reduced lab costs using CAD/CAM technology. Dr Fenton sees further future advances in CBCT guided placement of angled implants, 3D printing of restoration frameworks, improved ceramic veneering and further reduced cost.