The human body’s ability to repair both hard and soft tissue is a natural biological phenomenon. Within biological limits, most tissue will repair itself. Regeneration, however, is another matter. In the majority of trauma cases, the tissue is incapable of restoring itself to its previous condition. This is certainly the case when a tooth is lost. The absence of a tooth is only the most visible aspect of tooth loss. Because the function of the alveolar bone of the maxillary and mandibular arches is to support teeth, when teeth are removed, this bone recedes, resorbs and is lost with them.

Likewise, attached gingival tissue recedes around the extraction site and may be lost altogether. The dental implant is our manmade answer to tooth root regeneration. It enables us to restore the form and function of the natural tooth artificially. Replacement bone materials and skin grafts are our weapons against loss of alveolar bone and gingival tissue. They enable us to recreate the soft and hard tissue environment that natural teeth would normally enjoy.

Endosseous implant design and the protocols for dental implant surgery have now advanced to a point where it is often neither the implant nor the surgery that is at fault when an implant fails. Instead, when doing a post-mortem on the failed implant, other culprits are frequently found: inadequate hard or soft tissue, poor oral hygiene, substandard restorative procedures, or failure to follow the well-established surgical protocols.

Rather than placing implants into bone of such quality or quantity that they are unlikely to withstand the function of daily use, modification of the bone to create a more receptive environment has merit. Also, placing implants at sites where improper soft tissue surrounds them, the surgical dentist should modify the tissue to provide a setting that is more conducive to long-term success.

In short, by altering sites, we eliminate the failures that occur when treatment is undertaken in marginal surroundings and remove the obstacles that otherwise might preclude an edentulous or partially edentulous patient from receiving dental implant treatment. Dr. Callan’s presentation focuses on hard and soft tissue conditions at the implant site.

Clinical experience routinely demonstrates that even the best-designed implants placed with the most meticulous surgical technique are at risk if they are surrounded by inadequate or poor bone or an insufficient amount of attached gingival tissue. The surgical practice should develop a philosophy about such cases: ALTERATION IS BETTER THAN ELIMINATION.

Dr. Callan is not only a practicing clinician, he also is an educator. As listed in his CV, Dr. Callan provides educational programs for dental implant therapy and tissue regeneration courses. The main course is provided as a two-day hands on tissue regeneration course at Dr. Callan's Learning Center (South Central Institute for Implant Education) located in Little Rock, Arkansas. At the request of universities, study clubs, various associations, and special groups, Dr. Callan can provide a program to fit the request on various subjects as listed below:

• "The Dental Implant Team and Responsibilities of Each"
• "Medical Evaluation of Implant Patients"
• "Osscointegration vs Fibrosseous Integration"
• "Bio-Integration vs Osseointegration"
• "The Biological and Clinical Rationale for Dental Implants"
• "Hydroxylapatite and Other Synthetic Materials"
• "Implants and Insurance"
• "Marketing Dental Implants"
• "Complications and Trouble Shooting in Dental Implantology"
• "Implant Technique, Rationale, Complications and Trouble Shooting"
• "The Role of Synthetic Bone Augmentation in Implant Surgery"
• "Introduction to Dental Implants"
• "Anatomical Considerations in Dental Implantology"
• "Soft Tissue Maintenance of the Implant Patient"
• "Selection of the Implant Patient"
• "Allografts (Hard and Soft Tissue)"
• "Implants for the Dental Hygienist"
• "The Titanium Implant - Tissue Interface"
• "Dealing with the Maxillary Sinus in Implant Cases"
• "Diagnosis & treatment Planning in Implant Cases"
• "Tissue Regeneration in Implant Surgery"
• "Xenograft Material (clinical and histological)"

Course Objectives for the Two-Day Program

1. Understand the difference between tissue repair and tissue regeneration.
   
2. Identify the potential for bone loss after tooth loss.
   
3. Identify the need for tissue regeneration for conventional and implant therapy.
   
4. Determine the sequence of tissue regeneration (hard and soft tissue).
   
5. Determine the objective of hard tissue regeneration.
   
6. Proper selection of bone grafting materials and the rationale for each material.
   
7. Accept and understand the limitations of each bone grafting material.
   
8. Determine postoperative care for the patient.
   
9. Understand the difference between implant success and implant survival.
   
10. Understand the advantages of bone grafting for conventional and implant dentistry.
    
11. Identify why some bone regeneration procedures work and others do not.
12. Understand the rationale for a membrane barrier.
    
13. What membrane barriers are best to use and why.
    
14. Identify how to prevent membrane exposure.
    
15. Determine why bone loss occurs about dental implants.
    
16. Develop the proper techniques for the placement of dental implants.