But how do you employ a team approach, and what are the best practices for creating this collaborative culture for the treatment?
As part of the new “You Ask! the Experts” webinar series for the Academy of Osseointegration (AO), implant experts Dr. Sonia Leziy and Dr. Brahm Miller shared three steps for creating this team approach:
1. Include all involved parties in the treatment-planning phase. Be sure to include the patient, technician, and other specialists involved in the planning for procedures. Anticipating all the specifics from the start provides implant position accuracy and effective treatment with minimal hassles for the patient and the team.
2. Communicate your needs to create the best outcome for the implant. Effective communication helps eliminate some of the problems with esthetic outcomes.
- Make clear what provides the best foundation for your treatment (i.e., soft tissue volume and restoration strategies).
- Encourage the other specialists to provide the proper working base to create a better esthetic outcome, a particularly important concern when you consider side-by-side implant cases with soft tissue challenges.
- Include accurate impressions, which are facilitated best by a digital workflow.
3. Keep a sense of urgency to the surgical strategy. Immediate implant placement is the best-case scenario for many cases. With the exception of cases where bone deficiency is too severe, most implants have the best outcome with an immediate placement protocol because this is when you have the most bone available.
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Clinicians use experience and knowledge to create a successful outcome for patients. There are, however, many variables that create a successful outcome—and you don’t control all of them. By involving the other members of your team from the outset, communicating what you need to create the best implant treatment, and working for an immediate implant placement, you can use this team approach to create the best outcome for your patients for both form and function.
Members of the AO can download the webinar for free. Simply use your member login to the AO website and select the webinar to download to your device. Non-members may access it for a $50 fee. AO is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider and designates the completion of this webinar activity for one-hour continuing education credit.
Register now for the next AO webinar titled “Guided Surgery: Heaven or Hell?” with Dr. Jaime Lozada, which will be presented on June 24, 2015.
About the Academy of Osseointegration
With 6,000 members in 70 countries around the world, the AO is recognized as the premier international association for professionals interested in implant dentistry. AO serves as a nexus where specialists and generalists can come together to evaluate emerging research, technology, and techniques; share best information; and coordinate optimal patient care using timely, evidence-based science and methods. Follow AO on Facebook and Twitter.
