Osteology Sydney 2020 continues to build momentum ready for June event

Preparations for Osteology Sydney 2020, taking place on June 19-21, 2020 at the new ICC at Darling Harbour, are almost complete. The event presents a stellar line-up of top local and international speakers in a format that incorporates lectures for clinicians and the clinical team, a variety of comprehensive hands-on workshops and a gala dinner. We caught up with the legendary Dr Frank Schwarz at the International Osteology Symposium in Barcelona to find out why Osteology events are so vital.

ADP Thank you for your time Dr Schwarz. Osteology is an amazing event. Can you explain why regeneration is so significant for implant dentistry and implant clinicians?

We've been placing implants on a regular basis for more than 30 years and in that time, we've come to realise that while implant placement is a relatively simple process from a surgical perspective, it's inherently complex biologically. The biology needs to be addressed in the proper way to avoid complications and it's at this point that regeneration comes into the picture.

We have compromised sites in the vast majority of cases where we're placing implants. We cannot always place implants in a perfect, wide and well-dimensioned ridge. We have to accept the fact that, in most cases, implant placement goes hand-in-hand with bone deficiencies. Or more correctly, bone dimension or quality that needs to be improved to support the long-term success of the implant.

Bone regeneration, therefore, has become a mandatory tool for the implant dentist. This is also not limited to cases where we have a bone deficiency that is immediately obvious. We now understand, for instance, that even a thin bone plate may compromise the long-term stability of the implant.

Bone augmentation procedures need to be applied in the vast majority of cases to support the implant and also to support the soft tissue aesthetics.

What would you say to dentists who have never done any training in regeneration?

Bone regeneration is a complex biological phenomenon and for the clinician, it's important to have the proper skills and training. You have to understand that bone formation is a crucial element. We need to think carefully about proper flap design, correct incision techniques and methods for proper handling of biomaterials.

In addition, not all patients behave the same and therefore, proper surgical training enables you to be able to customise a procedure and adapt it to the specific needs of your patient. Without having the training and understanding the biological consequences of treatment, you cannot customise anything.

My particular expertise is the treatment of implant-related complications and implant infections are one of my major research topics. Biological complications were ignored for many years but are now seen as a regular occurrence in implant dentistry. Implant clinicians need to learn which treatment and procedure should be chosen for a specific diseased entity around an implant. For example, for peri-implantitis, should we choose a regenerative approach or should we choose a non-surgical approach? This is what you have to learn.

A membrane may be seen as just a piece of collagen, but there are many, many different ways to apply it, to adapt it to the defect and to adapt it to the clinical situation.

This is what you cannot understand from reading a textbook or scientific article. You need to learn it with your own hands. And there are so few occasions where you can learn it properly. This is the mission of the Osteology Foundation - to spread knowledge and to link science with clinical practice.

So at the Osteology events, would you recommend participating in the hands-on workshops?

Well, when you want to get to the next level, when you want to reduce complications, and of course, when you want to improve your knowledge in a very specific area, then I don't see many alternatives to the Osteology Foundation and the Osteology events.

The Osteology Foundation primarily supports research for young dentists that have a certain skill and a certain ambition to start their scientific careers. This is one of the major missions of the Osteology Foundation - providing funds for research and also funds for training in how to do research correctly.

At a certain point, however, the clinician becomes the crucial component, hence the Osteology Foundation also support clinicians looking to improve their clinical knowledge and skills. This is where we link the science to clinical practice.

At Osteology events, we bring everyone together in a very positive atmosphere where these two paths can intersect. In the past, research and clinical practice existed in parallel - scientists versus clinicians. And this is how Osteology events would be run. On plenary one, we had the scientists and on plenary two, the clinicians. But this was not at all appropriate. So we have now linked the two. And this is what Osteology now does, in a very strategic and professional way, supporting both parties at every step of their careers.

How does the Osteology Foundation create these amazing events?

The Osteology Foundation has a board and the board is also a mixture of practitioners and scientists from all over the world. The national symposia, such as the event taking place in Sydney, always have a local chair from the host country, even though that country may not have a member on the board. And in this way, we try to tailor events to local circumstances so that the content and format will meet local expectations.

For countries like Australia, where clinicians are well-advanced and have been placing implants for decades, meetings like the upcoming National Osteology Symposium Sydney 2020, 19-21 June at Darling Harbour are a place where they can still learn a lot, particularly about all the new things that are happening. Even someone like myself, who is considered to be at the forefront of scientific research, realises that there are many, many things that I don't know or, let's say, haven't interpreted fully. So you can always learn, particularly from being in such a positive environment surrounded by so much knowledge and experience.