Penn Dental Hosts Foundation for Oral Rehabilitation Consensus Conference

December 7, 2016

 

Participants in the 2016 consensus conference of the Foundation for Oral Rehabilitation, held at Penn Dental Medicine Nov. 30 – Dec. 1.

Philadelphia — Penn Dental Medicine hosted the 2016 consensus conference of the Foundation for Oral Rehabilitation (FOR), Nov. 30 – Dec. 1, on the topic of prosthetic protocols in implant-based rehabilitation. Dr. Markus Blatz, Professor and Chair of Preventive & Restorative Sciences at Penn Dental Medicine served as Co-Chair of the meeting, bringing together an international panel of experts in the field of prosthodontics.

Select participants conducted systematic literature reviews on different aspects of implant-based rehabilitation prior to the meeting for discussion by the group assembled. Those literature review topics and presentations included:

  • removable versus fixed implant-supported dentures by Dr. Charles Goodacre, (Distinguished Professor and former Dean, Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, USA) and Co-Chair of the conference);
  • clinical outcomes of full arch implant-supported zirconia prostheses by Dr. Avinash Bidra (Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Postgraduate Prosthodontics, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, USA);
  • influence of abutment material on biologic/clinical outcomes by Dr. Radi Masri (Associate Professor, University of Maryland School of Dentistry, USA);
  • immediate-load zygoma implants by Dr. Frank Tuminelli (Director of Postgraduate Prosthodontics, New York Hospital Queens, USA);
  • full-contour monolithic implant restorations by Dr. Petra Gierthmuehlen (Professor and Chair, Department of Prosthodontics, University of Duesseldorf School of Dental Medicine, Germany);
  • digital versus conventional implant impressions by Dr.Vygandas Rutkunas (Associate Professor at Institute of Odontology and Head of the Department of Dental and Prosthetic Clinic at Vilnius University, Lithuania); and
  • fit of prosthetic components and clinical outcomes by Dr. Joannis Katsoulis (Professor, Department of Prosthodontics at University of Bern School of Dental Medicine, Switzerland).
  • material selection and clinical outcomes by Dr. Wael Att (Professor and Director of Postgraduate Prosthodontics, University of Freiburg School of Dental Medicine, Germany);
  • clinical performance of CAD/CAM monolithic ceramic implant-supported restorations bonded to titanium inserts by Dr. Markus Blatz, (Professor and Chair of Preventive & Restorative Sciences at Penn Dental Medicine, USA) and Co-Chair of the conference.

Other participants included advisor Dr. Daniel van Steenberghe, (Professor Emeritus, University of Leuven, Belgium); Dr. Friedrich Neukam, FOR Chairman (Professor and Chair, Department of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery at Erlangen-Nuremberg University Dental School, Germany); and Ursula Stocker and Dr. Natalia Martinez of the FOR Center team.

“We are honored and proud of the opportunity to host and chair this exceptional conference with global leaders and authorities in the field of prosthodontics, who have compiled an extraordinary wealth of significant and relevant information,” says Dr. Blatz. “High-quality systematic reviews and consensus conferences have become increasingly important in recent years as the back bone of evidence-based dentistry. Being selected to host this conference also reflects on the excellent international standing of Penn Dental Medicine and the Department of Preventive and Restorative Sciences in the field, which we are particularly proud of.”

The outcomes/proceedings of the conference will be published as a special issue of the highly ranked European Journal of Oral Implantology (publication is anticipated in April 2017); the outcomes will also be shared via www.FOR.org.

This was FOR’s third consensus conference. Established in 2013, FOR is an independent, international initiative that unites professionals from various disciplines to improve oral health care and support humanitarian leadership. Since its inception, FOR’s mission has been to help treat more patients in a humanitarian manner, reflecting innovation and the highest standards of scientifically based treatment. Its site, www.FOR.org en remains the key portal through which the Foundation achieves its objectives to not only disseminate knowledge on advanced treatment modalities for patients, but also allows for peer-to-peer learning and knowledge exchange.