GPT1 - Avoiding Rookie Mistakes when Placing Dental Implants

Although dental implants are generally a successful and predictable treatment option for missing teeth, complications and misadventures occur regularly in the dental community. As general practitioners perform more implant surgeries, oral and maxillofacial surgeons will be taking care of increasingly complex patients who require challenging implant and grafting procedures. As a newly practicing OMS (or current resident), it is imperative that you avoid rookie mistakes that will negatively affect your patient’s treatment and cause difficulties with referrals. You must be able to properly select your implant cases, minimize medical risk factors that can negatively affect healing or implant success, and select and execute proper surgical and prosthetic techniques. For the practicing clinician, focus must be on diagnosing, managing, minimizing and ultimately preventing complications. This presentation will show the OMS resident how to avoid rookie mistakes, reduce errors in implant surgical techniques and provide some pearls of wisdom to bring back to the office following the program.