Micro-implants for ortho course

Orthodontist Derek Mahony and Oral and Maxillo-Facial Surgeon Alf Coren are teaming up to present Micro-Implants, The Complete Picture on December 2, 2005. The course, featuring a live patient demonstration, will be held at Dr Mahony's new purpose-built Dental Education Centre next to Sydney Airport in Mascot.

The seminar will explore the various skeletal implant systems that have been proposed to reinforce orthodontic anchorage without the need for extra oral appliances. Orthodontic mini-screws or micro screws are efficient, inexpensive, and simple to place and remove. Since the primary means of retention of most micro-implants is a mechanical lock within the bone, their stability depends largely on the quality and quantity of available cortical and trabecular bone.

This one day seminar will review the use of implants as orthodontic anchorage, look at the timing of force application after implant insertion and summarise the effectiveness of implants as orthopaedic anchorage.

The live surgical demonstration will involve a micro-implant being placed under local anaesthetic in the dental chair.