Astra Tech, UIC College of Dentistry Partner in Dental Implant Education

Feb. 12, 2011 - PRLog -- A significantly large gift in 2005 from Astra Tech, a major dental implant solutions provider, helped establish a top clinical implant dentistry program at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry. This resulted in better and more affordable patient care, a unique curriculum for students, and opportunities for current practitioners to add clinical implant dentistry to their repertoire of skills.

“It’s been a really wonderful program supporting primarily our predoctoral implant education.” said Dr. Stephen Campbell, Head of the Department of Restorative Dentistry. “It has also had a great impact on all of the implant care throughout the institution, and on all of the advanced programs such as oral surgery, periodontics, and prosthodontics.”

Building on the success of that partnership, the College has signed a seven-year agreement with Astra Tech that is “more than an extension of our current relationship,” Dr. Campbell said. “It strengthens what’s been developed till now, but also helps ensure that we can continue to enhance our program offerings and do even more special things in the years to come.”

The partnership will continue supporting all of the College’s predoctoral implant programs in an expanded role. Thanks to Astra Tech, “The College has established itself as a leader nationally with a comprehensive implant dentistry curriculum,” stated Dr. Campbell. “This expanded partnership allows us to do more advanced work with our dental students and make certain that they are best-prepared to use the latest technology in the community.”

“At Astra Tech, we believe strongly in the value of quality education programs, which include advanced training in restorative implant dentistry that help to prepare today’s students for the optimized care of tomorrow’s patients,” said Scott Root, President and CEO of Astra Tech Inc., North America.

“All Astra Tech products are backed by extensive research and clinical documentation,” Root continued. “We have helped to establish industry standards by pioneering key implant features such as the first, and currently only, OsseoSpeed™ fluoride-modified implant surface, MicroThread™ at the implant neck, Conical Seal Design™, and Connective Contour™. We will continue to expand upon our Atlantis patient-specific abutment solution by way of new interfaces and therapy solutions that fully leverage CAD/CAM technology. It is our hope that by bringing these advancements in to the College, that we will be able to contribute to the goals set for the education of its dental students.”

“It is vital that our predoctoral students graduate competent to restore implants,” said Dean Bruce Graham. “Our College’s patient population can’t usually afford implant treatment. Astra Tech’s gift provides the resources to offset the costs of implant treatment for our patients. I want to thank Astra Tech for helping to make it possible for our students to get the finest implant education possible.”

In addition, Astra Tech will provide its Facilitate™ Computer Guided Treatment Planning software for use by the advanced specialty programs and students.

"It’s a sophisticated, three-dimensional software planning tool that allows us to create 3-D imaging and then manipulate information and data to create real-world planning for patient care,” Dr. Campbell said. “It actually gives us the flexibility to work in reverse; we can set up the desired result and then work backwards to where the patient is today, allowing us to work out all of the treatment details we need to achieve the desired treatment results. You can map out the implant restoration on a digital model and then have it fabricated for the patient.”

“It’s a CAD/CAM tool that offers an incredible amount of flexibility for improving the quality of results, education for the students, and discussing key design principles,” he continued. “It delivers digital technology to predoctoral students and creates opportunities for them to become more involved with the surgical planning of implant placement.”   

Under construction at the College is the ProCare Dental Implant and Innovations Center, funded by a generous donation by ProCare Dental Group PC, led by its President, Dr. Robert Brunetti. The Astra Tech partnership also provides additional funding for construction of the center.

“It will be a single facility for all our implants education and patient care, and a wonderful opportunity for faculty involved with implants to be in close proximity, which will allow them to communicate even more effectively,” Dr. Campbell said. “It also will be an opportunity for students to observe the model behavior of clinicians, improve the quality of patient outcomes, and allow us all to be on the same page.”

“We want to thank Astra Tech for their generous gift that provides materials and supports our educational program and facilities,” Dr. Campbell concluded.

“Our Brilliant Futures: Educating a New Dentist for America campaign is focused on supporting students’ education, facility renewal, and faculty endowments,” Dean Graham explained. “This gift from Astra Tech impacts all three areas. Our students’ education in implants will be enhanced; we will be able to go forward with construction of the Implants and Innovations Center; and faculty will benefit from added funding.

“The Astra Tech gift is a wonderful example of private support that will assure optimal teaching, patient care, and scientific discovery within our Brilliant Futures goals,” he concluded.

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The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry offers the DMD and specialty dental degrees, and provides oral healthcare to patients.