Marginal Bone Loss a Condition, Not a Disease
5:00 – 5:30 P.M. CST
Tomas Olle Albrektsson, MD, PhD, RCPSG
University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Following this session, the attendee should be able to:

• Recall that osseointegration is an immune response characterized by bone demarcation of the foreign material.
• Discuss that peri-implantitis is generally not a primary disease threatening oral implants.
• Explain why minimizing all trauma is the best way to deal with dangerous marginal bone loss.

To understand marginal bone loss (MBL) necessitates the recognition of the immune system and its importance for oral implants. This session will discuss how implants may lose a few mm of marginal bone without this representing any disease since implants are protected by the immune/inflammatory system. However, 1-2% of implants at 10 years or more of follow up may still see a local imbalance of the immune/inflammatory defense which may lead to dangerous levels of MBL and implant failure.

Biography: Tomas Albrektsson belonged to the original osseointegration team of the University of Gothenburg. Albrektsson has published scientific papers on osseointegration of oral, craniofacial and orthopedic implants since the 1970s Albrektsson is currently professor Emeritus of Gothenburg University.