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We’ve Come a Long Way
From subperiosteal implants…
...to combined root-form and blade implants…
...to the modern endosseous designs and CAD/CAM restorations of today.
I got interested in implants when a patient
came into my office one summer, decades ago, holding a
shoebox that contained no less than 17 sets of dentures. She
had a severely atrophic mandible that made it impossible
to retain a mandibular conventional denture — and she
was an emotional wreck. Her husband, who was a wellrespected
orthopedic surgeon, explained that she was a
dental cripple and that this condition had all but destroyed
their social lives. They declined invitations to parties and
avoided going out in public because she couldn’t wear her
lower teeth. So sad. At the time I didn’t think there was any
hope, and I told her so. (But the seed was planted.)
Then, I ran into her husband at a hospital function. He’d
since read about dental implants in an orthopedic journal,
but I told him those things didn’t work. “There is infection
and rejection.” That’s what we were told in school. In short,
I gave them no solution or possibility for a better quality
of life. I saw the husband yet again about five months later
at a hospital meeting. He had since taken his wife to New
York, and a Dr. Linkow had placed a subperiosteal implant
that changed their lives. She could eat anything. They were
able to go out in public again. And her self-confidence improved
significantly. He said to me, “Implant dentistry is
the future,” and that I should learn all about it — or get left
behind. This advice, coming from an orthopedic surgeon,
was a wake-up call.
In January of 1970, I went to New York to take Dr. Leonard
Linkow’s course. It was two days with a hands-on portion
where the participants placed an endosseous blade in a
clear plastic model. In order to take the course, you had to
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