From the Co-Editor

Louis F. Rose, DDS, MD

Dear Readers,

Each time we interact with a patient, our years of training, experience, and passion come into fruition. With the growing body of evidence supporting the intrinsic link of oral and systemic health, we will continue building our roles as the sentries of oral health. Compendium provides you with one of your tools for maintaining and cultivating that role as we have been doing for 30 years.

This month, we present an intriguing literature review examining the overall strength of evidence between periodontal disease and atherosclerotic disease. Because these two conditions might be linked, periodontal disease may be considered one day to be an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic disease. Given the significant body of research that suggests an association and the fact that inflammation most likely plays a major role in this link, we need to establish a partnership with our medical colleagues to more effectively treat patients.

Compendium’s first Continuing Education (CE) article discusses the goals, types, and appropriate frequency of periodontal maintenance in periodontal and dental implant therapy. It also explores the incidence and etiology of periimplant disease and management strategies when recurrent disease develops during the maintenance phase of treatment.

Compendium’s other CE article describes a new approach to the replacement of four mandibular incisors with localized, chronic, severe periodontitis. Their replacement with immediately placed implants and a nonocclusally loaded provisional restoration provides a simple and successful outcome.

Another thought-provoking article challenges the conventional thinking regarding connecting a tooth to an implant to function as an abutment to replace a missing tooth. The authors suggest that the problems related to tooth implant-supported prostheses may have been overstated and make recommendations for attaining high success rates.

Please be sure to visit us at compendiumlive.com, where you can find cutting-edge, practical information and earn some of your CE credits.

I always welcome your comments and suggestions: Please contact me at lrose@aegiscomm.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Louis F. Rose, DDS, MD