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Dr. Arthur Ashman Department of Implant Dentistry

Chair: Dennis P. Tarnow, D.D.S., Professor of Implant Dentistry

Overview
The Arthur Ashman Department of Implant Dentistry was founded in 1991 with three Fellows. In 1993 the International Program was established and has grown rapidly. At present the department has trained 122 international trained dentists from 26 countries along with 54 Fellows. In fact, the department has the largest implant-training program worldwide.

Today, the International Program’s average combined class size (first- and second-year residents) is approximately 37 per year along with approximately six Fellows. Each year the program attracts residents from around the world who realize that with the advancements in technology that have occurred, implants are clearly the wave of the future.

As the department embarks into the new millennium, advancements in the field of implant dentistry are promising and exciting. This is clearly demonstrated in the broad curriculum currently taught to third- and fourth-year predoctoral students and in the innovative research projects in progress, which are continually upgrading the field of implant dentistry.

Curriculum
Implant dentistry is the science and study of the reconstruction, maintenance, and health of the patient through replacement of teeth and contiguous structures with natural and alloplastic devices and materials. The overall educational goals of the program in implant dentistry are to acquaint the student with the historic, biologic, and scientific bases for dental implant therapy and to develop in the students an understanding of evaluation, diagnosis, treatment planning, maintenance procedures, and associated complications in implant dentistry.

Didactic Program—Third Year
The presentation of didactic material begins in the third year with a series of lectures and a lab that covers the following:

1. History and development of dental implants
2. Biological basis of osseointegration
3. Selection of patients—presurgical prosthodontic clinical procedures
4. Oral surgical procedures
5. Biomaterials and biomechanics in dental implant design
6. Periodontic factors in implant dentistry
7. Prosthodontic considerations in implant dentistry

Clinical Program—Third and Fourth Years
Students gain exposure to the surgical placement of implants and the construction of implant design and place the interim and definitive restoration. During the third and fourth years, some students are responsible for the treatment of at least one implant supported restoration.

The student is involved with the initial diagnosis and treatment plan as well as the following aspects of treatment: (1) template design and fabrication; (2) assisting during Stage I and Stage II surgeries; (3) provisionalization of the patient throughout treatment; and (4) construction and insertion of the definitive restoration.

Implant Dentistry Fellowship Program
This two-year, twice weekly, fellowship certificate program is designed to give advanced practitioners the highest level of knowledge and skill related to the placement and restoration of dental implants. The basic sciences related to wound healing and biomaterials are heavily stressed, and each Fellow is required to complete one research project suitable for publication. The curriculum in this program includes the following courses:

First Year
Treatment Planning I
Literature Review I
Surgical Seminar I
Periodontics-Prosthodontic Lectures
Preclinical Periodontics
Preclinical Prosthodontics I
Head and Neck Anatomy
Oral Medicine and Pathology
Guided Tissue Regeneration
Preclinical Surgical Implants
Preclinical Prosthodontics II
Clinical Implantology

Second Year
Treatment Planning II
Literature Review II
Surgical Seminar II
Prosthetic Seminar
Clinical Implantology

Research
The department is active in research in the clinical basic science arena. Studies of sinus grafts, socket healing, immediate load, and new innovative implant designs are all part of the research orientation of the department. In addition, select students are involved in and assist faculty on research projects within the department. Many students present poster sessions or table clinics each year at national and international major meetings.